Inside Access to Dr. Raj Makkar’s Heart Valve Catheter Lab at Cedars-Sinai!!!
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: August 29, 2024
On behalf of heart valve patients all over the world…
I need to extend a huge “Thank You!” to Dr. Raj Makkar and the entire heart team at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California!
What Happened?
As you may know, Dr. Makkar is a world-renowned interventional cardiologist who specializes in minimally-invasive therapies for heart valve disease.
During his career, Dr. Makkar and his team has performed over 6,000 transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVRs) and more than 2,000 transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR) procedures. In addition, Dr. Makkar has participated in the development of many transcatheter devices that repair or replace defective heart valves without an incision to the patient’s chest or ribs.
That said, I was honored when Dr. Makkar invited the HeartValveSurgery.com team to spend an entire day with Dr. Makkar at Cedars-Sinai.
Amazing New Therapies Help Patients!
Dr. Makkar is an innovator in the field of transcatheter heart valve therapy. That said, I was very lucky to see some of the newest technologies help patients in the cath labs at Cedars-Sinai. For example, here is the new EVOQUE transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR) made by Edwards Lifesciences.
As you can see in the photo below, Dr. Makkar deployed the new EVOQUE TTVR in a very complex patient. In this photo, you can see the patient’s sternal wires (from a previous mechanical valve replacement) and a prior pacemaker implant. That said, this patient benefitted from a transcatheter solution that did not require a sternotomy.
Dr. Makkar’s Patient-Centric Teams
Throughout the day, I was able to see Dr. Makkar perform several different procedures for the aortic, mitral and tricuspid valves. I was also very fortunate to meet many interventional cardiologists, anesthesiologists, imaging specialists, researchers, nurse practitioners and other talented care providers at Cedars-Sinai.
For example, here is Hasan Al-Jilaihawi, MD, Tracy Salseth, NP, and Dhairya Patel, MPH, who are part of Dr. Makkar’s team. Many thanks to Hasan who is currently working on several new heart valve clinical trials including a new bicuspid aortic valve study. And, a special thanks to Dhairya who planned and guided all the activities and events of this special catheter lab tour.
Dr. Makkar has also developed a fantastic team of nurse practitioners and valve coordinators that support patients at each stage of the therapeutic process – before, during and after their operation.
And, here is a core group of Dr. Makkar’s clinical heart team. That is Dr. Aakriti Gupta, an interventional cardiologist, and Dr. Moody Makar, a cardiac anesthesiologist, that both specialize in transcatheter valve therapies.
Thanks Dr. Makkar and Cedars-Sinai!
I cannot thank Dr. Makkar enough for this incredible and memorable day. And, many thanks to the entire Cedars-Sinai team for taking such great care of heart valve patients.
As you might imagine, I learned a lot of new medical insights about transcatheter heart valve therapy during this special day with Dr. Makkar. So, stay tuned as that information will be posted here at HeartValveSurgery.com in the near future. Click here to sign-up to my free newsletter to get new medical insights about heart valve therapy.
Keep on tickin’ Dr. Makkar!
Adam
Written by Adam Pick
- Patient & Website Founder
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