Yale New Haven Health Heart & Vascular Center

Yale New Haven Health Heart and Vascular Center (HVC) is well-established as a provider of exceptional care and offers treatment options if you or a loved one has heart valve disease. Our commitment to delivering outstanding care includes a fully integrated cardiac surgery program at Bridgeport and Yale New Haven hospitals. 

Among our advanced valve procedures are mitral valve repair with robotic surgery; minimally invasive mitral valve repair using MitraClip^®; transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR); and BATMAN procedure -- balloon-assisted translocation of the mitral anterior leaflet. Yale New Haven Hospital is the only hospital in New England to provide robotic-assisted mitral valve repair, a procedure performed with the da Vinci Xi^® robotic surgical system. (All cited trademarks are the property of their respective owners.)

The minimally invasive TAVR and transcatheter mitral valve replacement procedures replace a valve without open-heart surgery. Expert cardiac physicians at Yale New Haven Hospital and Bridgeport Hospital perform the most TAVRs in Connecticut, with superior results. We also offer valve-sparing root replacement and bicuspid aortic valve repair and clinical trials for transcatheter tricuspid valve therapy. 

The Heart and Vascular Center at Yale New Haven Hospital is a leader in cardiac surgery for aortic valve reconstruction and offers a new, advanced surgical procedure that uses a patient’s own tissue to create a new aortic valve. A valve may need repair or replacement if there is narrowing (stenosis) of the valve opening or leakage (regurgitation), causing blood to flow backward, making it difficult for the heart to pump blood forward efficiently.

We offer a procedure called aortic valve neo-cuspitization (AVNeo™, also known as Ozaki procedure). The diseased aortic valve is removed and a new valve is made from the patient’s own pericardial tissue. During this process, the new leaflets are individually measured for the patient and prepared using the AVNeo™ system. The three new leaflets are then connected with sutures to the patient’s preserved aortic valve ring. Benefits of the reconstructed heart valve include improved blood flow compared to conventional artificial heart valves and unlikely need for a permanent pacemaker. This procedure is especially suited for patients with either aortic valve stenosis or regurgitation under age 60 who do not want a prosthesis valve made from synthetic materials. This procedure also relieves most patients from having to take blood-thinner medication (anti-coagulant).

Yale New Haven Health Heart & Vascular Center has assembled a special team of heart valve specialists that are committed to getting patients the best results. Our team consists of many leading surgeons and cardiologists that you can learn more about by clicking the links below:

Edward R. Tuohy, MD

Matthew L. Williams, MD

Marc Pelletier, MD

Prashanth
Vallabhajosyula, MD

Pramod Bonde, MD

Madonna Lee, MD

Chirag A. Shah, MD

Roland Assi, MD

John K. Forrest, MD

Victor M. Mejia, MD

To help you learn more about Yale New Haven Health Heart & Vascular Center, here are references for you:

• Bridgeport Hospital
• Yale New Haven Hospital
• Valve Repair & Replacement
• Advanced Mitral Valve Surgery
• TAVR
• Ozaki/AVNeo procedure