Cardiologists and heart surgeons at Ascension Illinois in Chicagoland deliver advanced heart and valve care.
Cardiologists and heart surgeons at Ascension Illinois in Chicagoland deliver advanced heart and valve care.
When you need advanced, specialized care for heart valve and structural heart conditions, Ascension Illinois delivers advanced diagnostics and imaging, minimally invasive therapies, surgical care, and rehabilitation support. From treatment through recovery,we provide personalized, compassionate heart care that’s right for you.
Ascension Alexian Brothers Valve Clinic, part of Ascension Illinois Heart and Vascular Institute, has provided innovative, high-quality valve care since 2014. Our team has performed thousands of procedures, including over 400 transcatheter interventions in the past year.
As part of a multidisciplinary structural heart team, interventional cardiologists, imaging specialists, cardiothoracic surgeons and other experts collaborate to make the best recommendations as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Many patients having elective transcatheter interventions are discharged home the same day or the day after the procedure.
Cardiologists at Ascension Illinois specialize in heart and valve disease, which is when one or more heart valves don’t work properly. The valves normally keep blood flow moving forward in one direction. And they prevent the backward flow of blood as it leaves each chamber of the heart.
There are two main types of heart valve disease:
Heart valves can develop both regurgitation and stenosis at the same time. Also, more than one heart valve can be affected at the same time.
Structural heart care also includes minimally invasive therapies for conditions affecting the heart’s valves and structures, including stroke-risk reduction procedures and catheter-based valve repair options. These advanced treatment options can help improve blood flow. Reduce symptoms, and lower stroke risk for some patients without open-heart surgery.
Common symptoms of heart valve disease and heart arrhythmias include:
Ascension Illinois treats a wide variety of heart valve and structural heart conditions, including:
Your doctor may think you have heart valve disease if your heart doesn’t sound right through a stethoscope. They may hear abnormal sounds because of abnormal blood flow across a valve.
This is also known as a cardiac or heart cath. For this test, your doctor guides a small catheter (hollow tube) through the large artery in your upper leg, or sometimes your wrist or arm, into your heart. This procedure lets your doctor take a close look at the heart to identify concerns and to perform other tests or procedures.
This imaging procedure uses an X-ray machine and a computer to create 3-D pictures of the heart. Sometimes a dye is injected into a vein so that your heart arteries can also be seen. Sometimes medicine is given to lower your heart rate so it captures a better image. It can also be used to find out how much calcium is in your heart arteries. Calcium is a marker for coronary artery disease.
This procedure uses a combination of large magnets, radio waves, and a computer to make detailed images of organs and structures in your body. Your doctor may order an MRI of the heart to look at the heart valves and major vessels. It can also detect coronary artery disease and how much damage it has caused. It can also assess heart problems that have been present since birth. It can find tumors and other conditions. Your doctor may order this test before other procedures such as angioplasty or stenting of the coronary arteries and heart or vascular surgery.
A chest X-ray is a quick, noninvasive imaging test that provides a detailed picture of the inside of your chest, helping your care team detect signs of a heart condition.
It's used to check the heart's function and structures. During the procedure, a transducer (like a microphone) sends out sound waves at a frequency too high to be heard. When the transducer is placed on the chest at certain locations and angles, the sound waves move through the skin and other body tissues to the heart tissues. The waves bounce or "echo" off the heart structures. These sound waves are sent to a computer that can create moving images on the screen of the heart walls and valves.
This is also called a treadmill or exercise ECG. This test is done to monitor the heart while you walk on a treadmill or pedal a stationary bike. Your doctor also monitors your breathing and blood pressure. A stress test may be used to detect coronary artery disease, or to determine safe levels of exercise after a heart attack or heart surgery. This test can also be done using special medicines that stress the heart in a similar manner as exercise does. Sometimes a stress test will collect ECG information along with heart ultrasound pictures. This is called an exercise or stress echocardiogram (echo). It's more sensitive and specific than ECG stress testing alone.
This test is similar to a transthoracic echocardiogram. But it's done with medicine to help you relax (sedation). It's considered invasive because a probe is put into your body. In this test, you will swallow a small probe about the size of your thumb. The probe passes down the esophagus, which lies directly behind the heart. It allows a much closer look at the heart's structure and function than a standard echocardiogram done on the skin of the chest. It can better look at heart valve structure and function. Your doctor can better see any blood clots that may be in the heart.
Treatment for heart valve disease may include medication, therapy or surgery.
Our facility also provides advanced heart failure support, including active extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and left ventricular assist device (LVAD) programs when
needed.
When traditional TAVR approaches can’t be used, our team has extensive experience in alternative access techniques, including transcarotid, transapical and transaxillary approaches.
For this nonsurgical procedure, a special hollow tube (catheter) is put into a blood vessel in the groin and guided into the heart. At the tip of the catheter is a deflated balloon that is inserted into the narrowed heart valve. Once in place, the balloon is inflated to stretch the valve open, and then removed. This procedure is only used to treat stenotic (narrowed) valves.
A device may be used to close off the left atrial appendage in some cases. This can prevent stroke without having to use lifelong blood thinners. The left atrial appendage is the area within the heart where most blood clots form. By closing this area off, any clots that form there cannot get out to travel to the brain to cause a stroke. The device is implanted without heart surgery. This device is not right for everyone. It is generally considered in those who are at high risk for stroke, as well as high risk for bleeding. Even with the device, you may need to take blood thinners in the short-term.
Your cardiologist may recommend medications to help manage your heart condition. Mediation may be used to lower blood pressure, prevent blood clots, lower cholesterol and more.
In some cases, a minimally invasive procedure may be used to close leaks around a prior surgical or transcatheter valve replacement.
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a procedure that replaces a diseased aortic valve with a man-made valve. The TAVR procedure may be recommended as an alternative to open heart surgery. The old heart valve is not removed but acts like an anchor for the new heart valve. This procedure is done through small cuts (incisions) using a long, thin tube (catheter), X-rays, and ultrasound.
Minimally invasive edge-to-edge repair procedures may be used to treat leaking mitral or tricuspid valves, helping improve symptoms and blood flow without open-heart surgery.
These are minimally invasive procedures. The healthcare provider replaces the heart valves. It's done through an artery (for the aortic valve) or a vein (for the tricuspid, pulmonary, or mitral valve) and is often performed from the groin.
Cardiac surgeons treat complex heart valve disease to repair damaged heart valves through open heart surgery and minimally invasive procedures, including TAVR and MitraClip™. When one or both of your valves do not open or close correctly, it can lead to reduced blood flow, cause the heart to work harder, and result in symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, fainting, or even heart failure.
For some patients who have previously had a valve replacement, a new valve may be placed inside the existing valve using a minimally invasive catheter-based approach.
Decisions about your heart care are important. Getting a second opinion not only provides more information about your condition, but it can help you feel more confident in the doctor and the care plan you choose. Consider getting a second opinion if:
To make an appointment, a referral should be made by your primary care doctor or another specialist. Once the referral is received and reviewed, you will be contacted to schedule an appointment with a cardiologist.
If you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, go directly to the ER or call 911.
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