Published:
January 19, 2023
Several months after Vilma Patel suffered a heart attack, her family moved their 80-year-old mother and grandmother from India to their Lancaster County home to help assure she was well cared for.
“We wanted her to be with family and get the best health care the possible,” explained her granddaughter Nikita.
That care would end up involving an advanced procedure to repair to a ventricular septal defect (VSD)—a hole in Vilma’s heart—by the team at the Heart & Vascular Institute at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health.
What is Ventricular Septal Defect?
Ventricular septal defect, or VSD, is a common congenital (from birth) defect in children. In adults, the condition is a rare but serious complication of a heart attack. As in Vilma’s case, a heart attack can tear a hole between the heart’s ventricles, separating the lower chambers and creating VSD that needs to be repaired.
Vilma’s Path to Treatment
When Vilma was admitted to Lancaster General Hospital she was experiencing shortness of breath and chest pain. The Heart Group of Lancaster General Health’s Dr. Neil Clark helped stabilize her and Dr. Jeong Won Choi performed a 4D cardiac CT scan to look at her whole heart function. This advanced imaging provides high-quality pictures and precise valve measurements that revealed that Vilma’s VSD was worsening, resulting in congestive heart failure. Her heart was pumping almost three times the normal amount of blood and could no longer keep up. Fluid was starting to build up in Vilma’s lungs.
“Typically patients whose disease has progressed to this advanced stage are not candidates for surgery, the usual course of action to repair VSD,” explained The Heart Group’s Dr. T. Raymond Foley, an interventional cardiologist, who has been caring for Vilma. “Fortunately for Vilma, our team had other options available.”
The Structural Heart Program at Lancaster General Health
Experts in the Structural Heart program at LG Health offer advanced treatments for structural heart disease, including minimally invasive heart valve replacement procedures like trans-catheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), trans-catheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) and ventricular septal defect (VSD).
The team determined that Vilma was a candidate for a trans-catheter VSD closure, a minimally invasive procedure done in the cardiac catheterization lab. Vilma was the first patient at Lancaster General Hospital to benefit from this advanced procedure which was performed by Dr. Foley, along with Dr. Choi and Dr. Rupal Dumasia.
Trans-cather VSD closure involves delivering a disc-like, mesh device through a vein in the neck and an artery in the leg. The device is then positioned within the “hole” between the two pumping chambers of the heart to repair it. Vilma was discharged the day after the procedure.
Recovery and Living Life
Today Vilma is feeling good and her heart is strong and functioning normally, the VSD completely repaired.
“We were so thankful that my grandmother had this option and for the team that took care of her,” said Nikita. “Everyone was so caring and explained the procedure so clearly. We felt very confident that we were in good hands the entire time.”