Heart & Vascular News

Approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of a procedure described as a “game changer” by physicians – transcatheter aortic valve replacement – now allows cardiac specialists at Barnes-Jewish to perform open-heart surgery without the “open” for patients previously unable to have surgery.

A highly specialized approach to open heart surgery, a minimally invasive mini-thoracotomy, allows those with mitral heart valve problems to recover faster with less pain and smaller scars.

The Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital Heart and Vascular Center is a 2011 recipient of the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Mission: Lifeline Silver Award. The award recognizes the success of Barnes-Jewish and their physician partners at Washington University School of Medicine in providing quality care to heart attack patients.

A recommendation by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel could soon lead to approval of transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Barnes-Jewish Hospital and its physician partners at Washington University School of Medicine is again the only St. Louis area hospital or medical institution listed among America’s elite medical centers in U.S. News & World Report’s list of “Best Hospitals,” while also ranking as the number one medical center in the St. Louis metro area.