For years, Maria Lepore of Scottsdale was told she may have to undergo open heart surgery to replace a failing aortic heart valve, the doorway to the main artery delivering oxygenated blood from the heart to the body.
Her condition left her progressively debilitated and forced her to give up her decades-old work as a hair stylist: “It made me very tired. Dizzy. You can’t breathe. You have to go on oxygen.”
At age 81, Maria could not afford to take a year off to recover from open-heart surgery. Her husband, Franco, 84, had suffered a stroke, leaving him unable to speak or take care of himself.
“I couldn’t take a year off to just sit back and watch. I’ve got to take care of him. My time is his. My life is not my own now,” said Maria, who kept putting off the surgery. She was not prepared to go through the same year-long ordeal as her older sister, Camela, who underwent open heart surgery nearly a decade ago to replace a similar heart valve.
Then, during one of her twice-a-year checkups, Maria was told of a new clinical trial at HonorHealth Research Institute — the J-Valve TF Early Feasibility Study, sponsored by JC Medical — involving a non-surgical procedure to replace her aortic valve.
Dr. David Rizik, medical director of the Cardiovascular Research Division at the Institute and the principal investigator for the clinical trial, performed the replacement, which consists of a new artificial valve delivered via a catheter to the heart through a large blood vessel in the leg.
Once the new valve is expanded, it pushes the old valve leaflets out of the way and the tissue in the replacement valve takes over the job of regulating blood flow, keeping blood from leaking from the aorta back into the heart. Maria, the first Arizona patient to receive the device, was only in the hospital for two days of recovery.
“It’s like a miracle. I didn’t feel a thing (painless). I was only in the hospital two days. I was on my feet from the first day I came home,” said Maria, who has nothing but praise for Dr. Rizik and his staff: “He’s marvelous. As soon as he talked with me, I trusted him. He knows what he’s doing. He’s terrific. I’m much, much better.”
Maria urged those who can afford to do so to donate to the Cardiovascular Division of the Institute though the HonorHealth Foundation.
HonorHealth performs first non-surgical heart valve replacement in AZ – Arizona PBS (azpbs.org)
