Structural Heart and Valve Disease Treatments | MedStar Health

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Leading the way in correcting heart defects

John Wang

Our structural heart and valvular heart disease experts are proud to offer patients access to the industry’s most advanced treatments, including the latest minimally invasive procedures, surgeries and medical therapies.

Structural heart and valvular disease includes a variety of heart defects that a person can be born with or can acquire over time. These conditions include holes between the chambers of the heart, diseases of the heart muscles, or leaking or narrowing of the heart valves.

Patients travel from across the country to seek treatment from our specialists, particularly if they:

  • Cannot safely undergo traditional surgery

  • Have advanced disease or severe heart defects

  • Have co-morbid conditions

  • Require a procedure to supplement or correct a previous surgery

We combine the expertise of cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, interventional cardiologists and cardiovascular imaging specialists to treat patients with a spectrum of structural heart and valvular diseases at multiple sites in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. These experts develop customized treatment plans for each patient, and the team meets daily to discuss and analyze all patients who are screened for any structural heart procedure.

Some of the many procedures our nationally recognized experts offer include:

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Developing and testing new treatment options for heart and valve diseases

A team of surgeons perform a procedure in a hospital operating room.

Our team is dedicated to advancing clinical research and new treatment options in this evolving field. We participate in a number of multicenter clinical trials, offering patients the chance to enroll in ongoing studies as treatment options.

We’re proud to have helped pioneer treatment and research in areas such as:

  • Tendyne: We are one of six centers evaluating this transcatheter-based mitral valve repair system that approaches its target through a small opening in the bottom of the heart.

  • Transcathether aortic valve replacement (TAVR): We have been a site for every major clinical trial for this procedure to treat aortic stenosis since the initial 2007 study. TAVR is currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in patients at high or intermediate risk of complications during traditional open-heart surgery. We are now evaluating its use in low-risk patients.

  • WATCHMAN™ device: Our specialists spent eight years testing this device to prevent stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib) before it reached the market in 2015. We’ve performed more of these procedures than any other heart center in the mid-Atlantic region.

Less-invasive treatments offered by the region’s heart and valve experts

Structural heart and valve disease includes a wide range of conditions that may be present at birth or may develop from injuries, infections, or age.

Our Structural Heart and Valvular Disease Program brings together experts from many specialties who have vast experience caring for complex conditions. We offer a full range of surgical and nonsurgical treatments. Many of our treatments are less invasive than traditional open-heart surgery, which means more patients are good candidates.

What structural heart and valve disease treatments are available?

John Wang talks to a colleage while holding an anatomical model of a heart.

Some of the many treatments we offer include:

Devices and access management

Aortic Valve – A

  • CoreValve®Evolut™ R, Pro

  • JenaValve™ for stenosis & regurgitation (trial)

  • Lotus™ (trial)

  • BASILICA procedure (trial)

  • Portico™ (trial)

  • SAPIEN S3™

Para-Valvular Leak – A

  • AMPLATZER™ Vascular Plug

Mitral Valve Regurgitation – B

  • Caisson™

  • Cardioband™ (trial)

  • MitraClip™

  • NeoChord™ (trial)

  • SAPIEN S3™

  • LAMPOON procedure (trial)

  • Tendyne™ valve (trial)

Congenital – C

  • ASD occluder

  • VSD occlude

  • PFO occluder for cryptogenic stroke

Left Atrial Appendage Occluder – D

  • WATCHMAN™ Device

  • AMPLATZER™ Amulet device (trial)

Pulmonary Valve – E

  • SAPIEN S3™

  • Melody® Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve

Tricuspid Valve – F

  • Trialign™ (trial)

  • SAPIEN S3™

Cerebral Protection Device – G

  • TriGuard™ (trial)

  • Sentinel™ (trial)

Access Management

  • Transcaval access

  • MANTA™ (trial)

  • Transaxillary access

  • Transapical access

  • Transmural closure system (trial)

Conditions

Ebstein’s Anomaly

A congenital heart defect in which the tricuspid valve between the right chambers of the heart does not close correctly.

Pulmonary Atresia

Pulmonary atresia is a congenital heart disorder that causes malformation of the valve controlling blood flow to your lungs.

Structural Heart and Valve Disease 

Structural heart and valve disease refers to a number of conditions that affect the heart’s chambers and valves.

Tetralogy of Fallot

Tetralogy of Fallot is a combination of four congenital structural heart defects that disrupt the normal flow of blood through the heart.

Transposition of the Great Arteries

Transposition of the great arteries is a condition present from birth in which the positions of the heart’s two main arteries are reversed. This condition requires lifelong follow-up care after it’s repaired in infancy.

Truncus Arteriosus

Truncus arteriosus is a heart condition present from birth in which the two main arteries taking blood away from the heart are replaced by a single artery.

Univentricular Heart

The term univentricular heart refers to a group of heart conditions present at birth in which one of the lower chambers of the heart (ventricles) is smaller, underdeveloped, or missing a valve. In rare cases, one of the ventricles may be missing altogether.

Tests

Cardiac Catheterization

Cardiac catheterization is a minimally invasive way to diagnose and treat a variety of heart and vascular conditions by guiding thin, flexible tubes called catheters through blood vessels to problem areas.

Chest X-ray

Chest X-rays use a small dose of radiation to create pictures of the structures inside the chest, including the lungs, heart, and chest wall.

Computerized Tomography (CT) Scan

The cardiac computed tomography scan, or cardiac CT, uses X-rays to create three-dimensional images of your heart and blood vessels.

Echocardiogram

An echocardiogram uses high-frequency sound waves to create images of your heart.

Electrocardiogram (ECG)

An electrocardiogram, also known as an ECG, measures the heart’s electrical activity.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Magnetic resonance imaging, better known as cardiac MRI, is a combination of radio waves, magnets, and computer technology used to create images of your heart and blood vessels.

Stress Tests

Stress tests are used to assess how your heart works during physical activity. There are several types of stress tests, including treadmill or bike stress tests, nuclear stress tests, stress echocardiograms, and chemically induced stress tests.

Our providers

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Our locations

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MedStar Union Memorial Hospital

201 E. University Pkwy.
Baltimore, MD 21218

MedStar Washington Hospital Center

110 Irving St. NW
Washington, DC 20010

Related services

Cardiac Rehabilitation


Cardiology


Congenital Heart Disease


Emergency Medicine


Heart Surgery


MitraClip


Mitral Valvuloplasty


Pharmacy


Primary Care


Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)


Ask MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute

Have general questions for our heart and vascular program? Email us at AskMHVI@medstar.net. If you have clinically-specific questions, please contact your physician’s office.