3-D imaging and robots allow physicians to detect, diagnose and treat heart conditions before symptoms occur
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nder Mike Trevathan’s right armpit are four small scars that mark the major heart surgery he underwent last summer. Except for occasional tightness when he first raised his arm, the wounds never hurt. Weeks after a leaky mitral valve in his heart was diagnosed and surgically repaired at The Methodist Hospital, Trevathan returned to teaching and went on his annual duck hunt near Trinity Bay, Texas. Thanks to surgeon Dr. Gerald Lawrie, his well-trained team and a robot named da Vinci, Trevathan’s life barely skipped a beat and his heart is ticking like new. “I feel real fortunate they didn’t have to split me open,” Trevathan says. “I feel as good as I did before I went in. They found my problem real quick. When Dr. Lawrie told me my options, I said let’s try the robot.”
Gateway to the heart The mitral valve is the gateway into the heart’s left ventricle, which supplies oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body. When the valve does not shut tightly, blood flows back into the atrium, decreasing blood flow to the body and forcing the ventricle to pump harder. Leakage — or regurgitation — can be present from birth or can develop as a result of damage from rheumatic fever. It also can occur from a ballooning out or prolapse of the valve.
WWW.METHODISTHEALTH.COM
Dr. Gerald Lawrie
VOLUME 4, NUMBER 4 䡲 7
