Saint Luke's Health System
Percutaneous Aortic Valve Replacement Trial at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute
Katie Safley, R.N.


“This exciting new treatment option holds great promise for patients with severe stenosis who previously were too risky or too sick for traditional open heart valve replacement surgery,”

said A. Michael Borkon, M.D., director of cardiovascular surgery at Saint Luke’s, and co-principal investigator of the Percutaneous Aortic Valve Replacement (PARTNER) trial along with David Cohen, M.D.
PARTNER Trial at Saint Luke's
  • Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute is among one of the select sites qualified to participate in the PARTNER trial. Doctors at Saint Luke’s were chosen because of their expertise in valve replacement surgery and vast experience in interventional procedures.
  • Patients who are considered high risk or non-operable for conventional open heart valve surgery for severe aortic stenosis now have a new option available only through Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute. Read the Saint Luke's Press Release
  • The first procedures in the investigative PARTNER clinical trial were performed Sept. 10, 2008.
  • Individuals interested in learning more about the clinical trial may call (816) 932-0218
  • View photos of procedure at Saint Luke's


The Edwards SAPIEN Transcatheter Valve

The Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter valve - side view
The Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter valve - top view


Video Animation of Procedure

Learn More About the Procedure
  • Edwards Minimally Invasive Transcatheter Aortic Heart Valve Replacement Information Sheet
  • Edwards PARTNER Trial Facts-at-a-Glance
  • Link to Edwards Lifesciences site to learn more about the Edwards SAPIEN Transcatheter Heart Valve




    • Heart Valve Trial Information

    Edwards Lifesciences received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in March 2007 for the nation’s first-ever clinical trial to test a new heart valve that is implanted on a beating heart without open heart surgery, using minimally invasive techniques.

    Annually, some 200,000 people in the U.S. need a new heart valve, but nearly half of them (100,000) do not receive a new valve for a variety of reasons. The Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter heart valve combines a tissue heart valve with a balloon stent. It is threaded through the patient’s circulatory system from the leg or inserted through a small incision between the ribs directly into the heart’s pumping chamber and deployed across the patient’s diseased valve.

    The trial will include 1,040 patients enrolled at more than 15 sites in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

    The Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute is the only hospital in the region to participate as a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigative site in the PARTNER pivotal clinical trial.