Englewood Hospital’s cardiac surgeons have recently introduced a new procedure to their already comprehensive offerings: minimally invasive mitral valve repair.

The procedure aims to correct a leaky or narrow mitral valve—conditions that can cause the heart to work harder to pump blood through the body.

Patients with mitral valve disorders experience extreme fatigue and shortness of breath—conditions that can have serious consequences to patients’ health.

“The minimally invasive approach allows us to use small 2 1/2 inch incisions—instead of a large sternal incision down the chest—to reach the mitral valve,” says Jock McCullough, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon at Englewood Hospital. “The benefits are not just cosmetic—patients who undergo minimally invasive repair recover more quickly and have a lower rate of complications after surgery.”

This approach allows patients who might not yet have been experiencing symptoms and were hesitant to undergo open-heart surgery the opportunity to fix the leaky valve before problems begin.

Seeking new approaches to surgery is not the only way Englewood Hospital stays on the cutting edge—surgeons also enroll patients in clinical trials. “We are one of only two hospitals in northern New Jersey to participate in an FDA-sponsored clinical trial to treat atrial fi brillation,” says Dr. McCullough. “Participating in clinical trials makes Englewood Hospital a part of history—helping to shape advances in cardiac surgery.”