Baptist Health recently celebrated a major medical milestone — the completion of the 300th minimally invasive procedure to treat mitral regurgitation, a common heart valve condition in which the mitral valve doesn’t close properly.
Using an innovative procedure called transcatheter mitral valve repair, a specially trained structural heart specialist guides a catheter through the vein in the groin up to the heart and carefully implants a MitraClip device. Because there is no incision, the patient only requires minimal anesthesia. A “magic stitch” closes the catheter site, which typically allows patients to walk a few hours after the procedure and go home the next day.
The MitraClip procedure at Baptist Health is performed by two nationally recognized interventional cardiologists Ruby Satpathy M.D., medical director of the structural heart program, and Siddharth Wayangankar M.D., director of the catheterization lab.
By continuing to advance research and education in this relatively new field, Baptist Health has become the highest volume structural heart program in the region.
Satpathy joined as the director of the structural heart program at Baptist Health in 2016, after being recognized nationally as a pioneer in this specialty, which focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of abnormalities and defects within the heart’s structure.
Satpathy just completed her 250th transcatheter mitral valve repair, another huge personal milestone after being the very first to implant a MitraClip in the state of Nebraska in 2013 and first to do a commercial MitraClip case in Jacksonville in 2016. Today, she is one of the top implanters in the country and the highest female primary implanter for the device.
“Minimally invasive procedural options give us the ability to ‘treat the untreatable’ so our patients, who otherwise may be high-risk candidates for surgery, can start feeling better right away,” said Satpathy.
Wayangankar joined Baptist Health in 2020 and has contributed significantly to the growth of the structural heart program. He trained at the Cleveland Clinic and brings with him extensive experience and advanced expertise in treating a multitude of structural heart diseases.
In addition to transcatheter mitral valve repair, Baptist Health offers an array of innovative treatment options for structural heart conditions including transcatheter aortic and mitral valve replacement, transcatheter PFO/ASD closure, left atrial appendage occlusion, paravalvular leak closure and alcohol septal ablation. The team also leads and participates in national and international research studies, bringing unparalleled access to the latest in structural heart technologies and techniques to the community.
“It takes a highly dedicated and accomplished structural heart team to deliver such a comprehensive array of advanced treatment and care,” said Michael A. Mayo, president and CEO of Baptist Health. “We are proud to celebrate this medical milestone as an indicator of quality and demonstration of our commitment to providing the best cardiovascular care to our community.”
Baptist Health was recently recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review’s 2023 list of “100 hospitals and health systems with great heart programs” and received the Society of Thoracic Surgeons’ three-star rating for coronary artery bypass graft surgery, which is the highest possible rating.
