Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital New Brunswick recently implanted the first two Lotus Edge Valve systems in New Jersey.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the valve from Boston Scientific, and RWJUH was selected as one of the first 10 sites in the United States – and the first in the state – to implant the valves.

The Lotus Edge Valve is a next generation transcatheter aortic valve replacement technology known as TAVR, an FDA approved treatment for individuals with aortic stenosis.

According to RWJUH, one of the most common and serious heart valve diseases, aortic stenosis, narrows the aortic valve opening and restricts blood flow. As the condition, progresses it leads to symptoms including fatigue, shortness of breath, dizziness and loss of consciousness. If untreated, nearly all people with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis dies from this condition. Delivered via a minimally invasive procedure, this TAVR technology is approved for patients with severe aortic stenosis who are considered high-risk for surgical valve replacement via open-heart surgery.

“As the first in New Jersey to implant the Lotus Edge Valve, RWJBarnabas Health continues to serve as the state’s premier TAVR program with outcomes that far exceed national benchmarks in safety, life expectancy, and risks of complications,” said Dr. Mark Russo, chief of the division of cardiac surgery, director of structural heart disease and associate professor of Surgery at Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

“With access to a continually increasing number of novel technologies, including the Lotus Edge Valve, we can provide safe, effective, and more customizable therapies to address cardiovascular disease, including aortic stenosis. This allows us to meet the needs of more patients and continually improve our already best-in-class outcomes,” Russo said.

According to Russo, the two patients to receive the valves are doing very well and were able to return home within 48 hours after the procedure.

The Lotus Edge Valve is the only FDA-approved aortic valve that is 100 percent repositionable, which enables physicians to precisely place the new valve into an optimal position in the heart, thereby helping to improve outcomes for the patient.

The two procedures at RWJUH were conducted by Russo; Dr. Mohammed Haris Umer Usman from Monmouth Medical Center; Drs. Lenonard Lee, Ashok Chaudhary, Bobby Ghosh and Abdul Hakeem, all from RWJUH New Brunswick; and proctor David Bersin.