The Cooper Heart Institute at Cooper University Hospital has been selected as one of the initial sites in the United States to implement a groundbreaking cardiovascular technology, the new Sapien Percutaneous Heart Valve.
This technology is expected to transform the treatment of aortic stenosis and aortic valve disease, which affects nearly 300,000 people annually in the United States. The transcatheter valve provides a non-surgical, catheter-based repair option for patients who are unable to undergo surgery for their aortic disease. The Sapien valve will be one of the advanced therapeutic options available at the new comprehensive, multi-disciplinary Cooper Heart Valve Center.
Cooper is the only site in southern New Jersey that will be offering this innovative treatment. Less than 10 percent of cardiac surgery programs across the United States will have access to this technology.
“The transcatheter valve is the type of innovation that comes along once in a generation, and will significantly alter how aortic disease is managed,” says Joseph E. Parrillo, M.D., Chief of Medicine and Director of the Cooper Heart Institute. “It is a testament to the excellence of our physicians and surgeons that Cooper was the only cardiac center in southern New Jersey selected to participate in this revolutionary technology.”
“Cooper was chosen in part because of our outstanding teamwork when performing heart procedures,” said Dr. Parrillo. “Our cardiology groups, Cooper University Cardiology and Cardiovascular Associates of the Delaware Valley (CADV), our cardiac surgeons, cardiac anesthesiologists, and nurses all closely collaborate to provide the finest care to each patient.”
The Sapien Percutaneous Heart Valve is only one of the therapeutic options in the valve repair and replacement arsenal at the Cooper Heart Institute. Cooper has the largest volume of cardiothoracic heart surgeries in South Jersey and 41 percent of that volume is attributed to valve procedures, with exceptional outcomes statistics.
“Because of our valve expertise we are able to address the crucial issues in minimally invasive valve repairs: performing the procedure using an approach which does not require opening the chest with a large incision, and not comprising valve size,” says Michael Rosenbloom, M.D., Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Cooper.
“Many cardiac surgery programs claim that their cases are performed using minimally-invasive techniques, and when in fact the cases are performed by opening the chest with a modified procedure,” says Michael Rosenbloom, M.D., Head of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Cooper. “At Cooper, we are able to perform cases without opening the chest cavity, dramatically lowering complication rates, pain, and facilitating a more rapid recovery. “