Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/763521
Via Christi Structural Heart program team members Richard Steckley, MD; Sanjay Khicha, MD; Bassem Chehab, MD; Brett Grizzell, MD; and Richard Allenbach, PA-C, gathered in June 2016 to celebrate having performed their 200th TAVR procedure. PHOTOS © VIA CHRISTI HEALTH Via Christi Structural Heart Program More Options for Less-invasive Heart Care THE VIA CHRISTI Structural Hear t program offers a greater number of less-invasive options for treating hear t disease than any other provider in the state outside of the Kansas City Metro area. It offers the exper tise of a team of structural cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons who care for patients with cardiac valve disease. "Working as a team, we provide the evaluation and interventional treatment that may be needed from us and then return the patients to the care of their referring physicians, for whom we will continue to serve as a resource as may be needed," says Bassem Chehab, MD, who leads the program. Other members of the team are Sanjay Khicha, MD, and Brett Grizzell, MD, both with Wichita Surgical Specialists; cardiologist Richard Steckley, MD, with Cardiovascular Consultants of Kansas; anesthesiologist David Havey, MD; and Richard Allenbach, PA-C. Based at the Heart Valve Clinic at Via Christi Hospital St. Francis in Wichita, the Structural Heart team is equipped to work with patients who have cardiac valve disease, especially patients with complicating conditions such as advanced age, comorbidities or prior histor y. St. Francis' specially constructed hybrid operating room includes cath lab equipment, anesthesia, special lighting, a video and monitoring system, and a CT scan that provides a 3-D image of the hear t and its vessels to allow fixed imaging in the sterile environment of the OR. The Via Christi Structural Heart program also offers multiple therapy options through its clinical research arm. It offers a multitude of newer therapies, available to only a few centers in the United States, through FDA-approved clinical trial testing of these newer technologies. "These are highly coveted clinical trials offered only to a select few," Dr. Chehab says. "It speaks to the immense national trust in our program both from the FDA and the major device companies to properly advance these new therapies. It also speaks highly of the quality and outcomes that this program has come to offer our community." Treatment options include: + Traditional open-heart surgery + Minimally invasive surgery options for high-risk patients + Balloon valvuloplasty + Transcatheter aortic valve replacement + MitraClip for repairing mitral valve regurgitation + Lariat for soft-tissue closure + Watchman for left atrial appendage closure + Hybrid procedures that combine minimally invasive surgery with simultaneous percutaneous procedures If you have a patient who has been diagnosed with any of the following conditions, he or she may be a good candidate to be seen by the Structural Hear t program's multispecialty team: + Patent foramen ovale, atrial or ventricular septal defect + Aor tic valve stenosis + Mitral valve stenosis + Mitral valve regurgitation + Pulmonar y valve stenosis To refer a patient for evaluation by the Via Christi Structural Heart program team, call 316-268-8650. 1 2 1 2S P E C I A L F E A T U R E