Scottsdale hospital performs breakthrough heart procedure with new technology

PHOENIX — A Scottsdale hospital recently became the first non-clinical trial site in Arizona to use a new medical tool to perform a tricuspid heart valve replacement.

HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center doctors used the Edwards EVOQUE system, which the FDA approved in February, for the breakthrough procedure. The new technology’s primary purpose is to prevent the backflow of blood in the upper-right chamber of the heart.

HonorHealth interventional cardiologist Haidar Yassin said about 1.6 million United States citizens deal with moderate to severe forms of this blood backflow, otherwise known as tricuspid regurgitation.

“When (tricuspid regurgitation) becomes moderate or severe, it can be life limiting and potentially life threatening,” Yassin said in a press release Wednesday. “Through this treatment, we can improve quality of life, relieve symptoms such as tiredness, shortness of breath and fatigue.”

Through the use of a catheter, HonorHealth is hoping to make most forms of open-heart surgery obsolete and effectively lead to less pain and faster recovery for all patients.

The milestone procedure was spearheaded by Yassin and HonorHealth network director Robert Riley at the HonorHealth Scottsdale hospital off of the Loop 101 and Shea Boulevard.

“HonorHealth Heart Care is a leader is aortic, mitral and pulmonary valve care, and this is the next logical step to provide complete heart care for our patients,” Riana Kielly, HonorHealth hospital administrator, said in the release. “These innovative procedures require collaboration between multiple specialists and teams before, during and after the procedure. At HonorHealth, we already have these teams in place.”

The HonorHealth health care network serves more than five million patients in the Phoenix area.

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