Boise, Idaho-based Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center became the first in the state to perform a Tendyne mitral valve replacement, the Daily Fly reported Dec. 7.
The device is inserted through a small incision on the left side of the patient's chest. It acts as a healthy mitral valve, stopping blood from flowing the wrong way. The procedure can be completed in 45 minutes and patients can go home within a few days.
The minimally invasive procedure, developed by Abbott, was performed on an 80-year-old man by Robert Saeid Farivar, MD, medical director of cardiothoracic surgery at the hospital. Dr. Farivar performed the first Tendyne procedure in the U.S. in 2015, according to the article.
Dr. Farivar said the implant can result in less heart failure, fewer hospital admissions and a longer and higher quality of life.