December 5, 2008 - Lebanon County, PA cardiologist Jeffrey L. Williams, M.D., MS, FACC, is the author of a study released in the Journal of Interventional Cardiology, “Feasibility of Myxomatous Mitral Valve Repair Using Direct Leaflet and Chordal Radiofrequency Ablation,” and is said to be the first in the world to describe a completely catheter-based intracardiac ablation approach to repair mitral valve prolapse causing severe mitral regurgitation.
Minimally invasive repair of mitral valve prolapse (MVP) causing severe mitral regurgitation (MR) should reduce MR and have chronic durability. His ex-vivo, acute in-vivo, and chronic in-vivo studies suggest that direct application of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) to mitral leaflets and chordae can affect these repair goals to decrease MR. The technique demonstrated a 43.7 to 60.7 percent statistically significant reduction in postablation MR. Chronic, in-vivo, percutaneous application of RFA was found to be feasible and the engendered alterations durable. These data suggest myxomatous mitral valve repair using radiofrequency energy delivered via catheter is feasible. Dr. Williams cautions these results are very preliminary, but is optimistic that ongoing studies will lead to a truly novel way to repair cardiac valve disease.
For more information: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18973508acts
April 30, 2024 
