Cardiologists make history, removing device and implanting new valve in first heart procedure of its kind

Mitral Valve Surgery from the University of Washington

A patient’s mitral-valve clip device (right) was snared and pulled into the basket, then removed via catheter. The torch-shaped tissue atop the clip is part of a mitral valve leaflet. The patient was implanted with a biologic replacement valve. Image and caption courtesy of James McCabe, MD, and the University of Washington.

“I was ready to make out my will, so this came along just at the right time,” the 76-year-old patient said.