Bronson, Lakeland Hospitals team up for new heart procedure

Not that long ago, Ronald Myers, 79, had almost given up on life--but a pioneering heart procedure has made all the difference for the man from Scotts.

 

"Last May, I decided I was just gonna go ahead and die," says Myers. "I spent most of my days lying down. I’d walk a little and be tired out. Now I can walk. I’m not short of breath and not wheezing. It was the best decision I ever made."

 

Meyers is one of first local residents to benefit from a procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) conducted by cardiac teams at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo and Lakeland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph that provides treatment for hardening or narrowing of the heart valves for those who are not good candidates for open heart surgery. 

 

Bronson reports that nearly 1.5 million Americans have severe aortic stenosis, but 30 percent of them are not healthy enough to survive open heart surgery, which requires going through the breastbone and temporarily stopping the heart. Half of patients who do not get treatment for severe aortic stenosis die within two years. 

 

During transcatheter aortic valve replacement, a new valve made from bovine (cow heart) tissue is collapsed and guided through the femoral artery via a catheter inserted in the patient’s groin. Once the new valve is positioned inside of the patient’s own aortic valve, it is opened to restore blood flow to the body without the need for open surgery.

 

Myers says he was a little hesitant when he heard how this new procedure works. "Going through the groin all the way up to the aortic valve is a long way to go," he said. But his history of complicated open heart surgery 16 years ago left him no safe option for standard, open heart valve replacement. 

 

The TAVR team includes cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons from both Lakeland and Bronson: Christopher Rogers, DO and Thomas K. Pow, MD; cardiothoracic surgeons, Alphonse DeLucia III, MD and Kourosh Baghelai, MD; echocardiologist, John F. Schonder, MD; anesthesiologist, Gregory D. Schrock, MD and program coordinator, Carmela Pulling, BSN, RN, MA.