Montefiore Einstein Launches Structural Heart Program Offering Minimally Invasive Heart Valve Replacement Procedures

Montefiore Einstein launched a new Structural Heart Program at White Plains Hospital, where renowned interventional cardiologists are now performing lifesaving transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVR) in Westchester, led by Azeem Latib, MD, Director for Structural Heart Interventions, Montefiore Einstein, and Professor, Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

The new program builds on the success of the Cardiac Surgery Program at White Plains Hospital created and led by Robert E. Michler, MD, Surgeon-in-Chief, Montefiore Health System, and Chair, Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Montefiore Einstein. These programs dramatically change the availability of high quality cardiac care in Westchester County. Previously, nearly 80% of patients who needed cardiac surgery had to leave Westchester to receive care.Making the best care available to patients in Westchester is an important goal for Montefiore Einstein and the launch of the new Structural Heart Program, is a reflection of this goal. White Plains Hospital is one of just two healthcare facilities in Westchester offering the TAVR procedure. Every patient is fully evaluated by a cardiac surgeon, interventional cardiologist, cardiologist and radiologist to determine the ideal course of treatment, whether that is a TAVR procedure or open-heart surgery. Also, with advanced imaging technology on-site—including high-resolution CT scanning, fusion imaging and cardiac MRI—patients can undergo convenient, same-day preoperative testing at the Center for Advanced Medicine & Surgery (CAMS) in White Plains prior to the procedure.

The Structural Heart Program’s successful completion of the first three minimally invasive heart valve replacement procedures, known as transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVR), were performed by Dr. Latib.

The procedure, which typically takes less than an hour, involves specially trained cardiac interventionalists, in collaboration with our world-class cardiac surgeons, using advanced imaging techniques to guide a flexible tube known as a catheter through a small needle hole in the groin, up through the blood vessels, to the diseased aortic valve. The team then uses the catheter to deploy a new valve, immediately restoring function and blood flow. Patients are cared for by highly trained cardiac intensivists in the hospital’s Cardiac ICU, and many of our patients go home the next day.

The procedures are completed in one of the hospital’s three state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization laboratories, which were recently awarded the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline EMS Gold Achievement Award for quality in the treatment of heart attacks.

Learn more about the Montefiore Structural Heart Program at White Plains Hospital or to schedule an appointment, call 914-849-4200.