Your heart is more than a pump — it’s a finely tuned instrument. When parts of your heart, like valves, walls or chambers, are damaged from aging, injury or infection, it can affect how blood flows through your body. These conditions — known as structural heart disease — include issues like narrowed valves (stenosis) or leaking valves (regurgitation). These issues can develop slowly and may not always show obvious symptoms. When they do, timely care makes all the difference.

At Norton Heart & Vascular Institute, we treat structural heart disease differently. We don’t just focus on the condition — we focus on you.

Advanced Structural Heart Care in Louisville

The Norton Heart & Vascular Institute Structural Heart Program brings together the talents of cardiothoracic surgeons, interventional cardiologists, electrophysiologists and advanced imaging cardiologists to one location at Norton Audubon Hospital.

Our comprehensive program offers patients the advantage of scheduling multiple appointments for one visit and benefiting from the collaboration of multiple specialists with their unique viewpoints and experiences. It’s like getting a second or third opinion in one visit.

What Makes Our Structural Heart Program Different

Fast-track Evaluation and Treatment
Patients enrolled in our structural heart program are fast-tracked for evaluation, diagnosis and treatment. Those who need surgery or minimally invasive procedures are scheduled within four weeks.

Dedicated Structural Heart Team
You’ll work closely with your structural heart program team and have follow-up appointments at Norton Audubon Hospital. A nurse navigator  with the program will help guide you through your care, with assistance such as education on how your condition may affect your life and care. Your navigator can help with insurance, planning aftercare and home-care needs.

Structural Heart Program Treatment Options

While some structural heart conditions never need treatment, others can be managed with medical therapy, minimally invasive procedures or surgery through the Norton Heart & Vascular Institute Structural Heart Program.

Norton Heart & Vascular Institute is a regional leader in structural heart disease treatment, offering more minimally invasive treatment options than any other system in the area.

The structural heart program specialists at Norton Heart & Vascular Institute are at the forefront with minimally invasive treatments. They can thread tiny tools through your blood vessels to the diseased valve and make repairs or even replace it. A tiny incision in your groin or an alternative site will allow your physicians to access your blood vessels, and advanced imaging will help them guide a catheter through your blood vessels to the diseased valve.

Minimally Invasive Structural Heart Procedures

Our structural heart program offers advanced treatment options, including:

• Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) — Minimally invasive aortic valve replacement
• Transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) — Catheter-based mitral valve treatment
• MitraClip — Mitral valve repair without open heart surgery
• Transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR) — Advanced tricuspid valve treatment`
• TriClip — Minimally invasive tricuspid valve repair
• EVOQUE — Next-generation transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR)
• Watchman left atrial appendage closure device — Stroke prevention for atrial fibrillation patients
• AtriClip placement — Surgical stroke risk reduction
• Closure of patent foramen ovale — Repair of a congenital heart condition

Why Choose the Norton Heart & Vascular Institute Structural Heart Program

Patients choose our structural heart program for:

• Multidisciplinary expertise in one convenient location
• Fast-track scheduling with appointments within four weeks
• Comprehensive care coordination with dedicated nurse navigators
• Regional leader in minimally invasive structural heart treatments
• Advanced technology and the latest treatment options
• Collaborative approach bringing multiple specialist perspectives to your care

Structural Cardiology

Hussayn J Alrayes, DO

Structural Heart Disease Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology

(7)

Vincent S DeGeare, MD

Interventional Cardiology, Structural Heart Disease Cardiology, Cardiology

(141)

Daniel P Rothschild, MD

Cardiology, Structural Heart Disease Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology

(59)

Manish Sharma, MD

Structural Heart Disease Cardiology, Cardiology

(318)

D. Sean Stewart, MD

Structural Heart Disease Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology, Cardiology

(133)

About Norton Heart & Vascular Institute

Norton Heart & Vascular Institute offers advanced care at all of our adult-service hospitals to save hearts and lives.

Awards and Accreditations

• Five of Norton Healthcare’s adult-service hospitals in Louisville have received Chest Pain Center accreditation from the American College of Cardiology (ACC).
• Norton Audubon Hospital has been named a HeartCare Center National Distinction of Excellence year after year by the American College of Cardiology. This is the only hospital in Louisville to be recognized for this distinction.
• Norton Audubon Hospital, Norton Brownsboro Hospital and Norton Hospital all are recognized as having ACC Chest Pain Center with Primary PCI accreditation.
• Norton Audubon Hospital earned ventricular assist device accreditation from DNV and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
• Three of Norton Healthcare’s adult-service hospitals have received the American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines achievement awards for demonstrating commitment to following up-to-date, research-based guidelines for the treatment of heart disease and stroke, ultimately leading to more lives saved, shorter recovery times and fewer readmissions to the hospital.
  • Norton Audubon Hospital received Gold Plus
  • Norton Brownsboro Hospital received Gold Plus
  • Norton Hospital received Silver Plus

A Leader in the Region in Advanced Care

• First in Louisville to implant a dual-chamber leadless pacemaker
• First in Louisville to use PASCAL and MitraClip to replace and repair heart valves
• First health care system in Louisville to offer CathWorks FFRangio System in a minimally invasive procedure to treat clogged arteries and advance heart disease
• High success rate for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation interventions treating heart failure
• Among the highest success rates in the nation for treatment of cardiogenic shock in heart failure
• Over 100 transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR) procedures performed for heart disease patients
• Health system with the most facilities across the city of Louisville with the ability treat a life-threatening heart attack
• More than 100 board-certified physicians and advanced practice providers with specialized heart and vascular training and experience at nearly 30 locations in Louisville and Southern Indiana

Comprehensive Heart Care for the Whole Person

Norton Heart & Vascular Institute offers patient resources to support you and your family, including free classes for people of all ages who want to improve cardiovascular health or are living with a heart condition.

• Cardiac rehabilitation: Our cardiac rehabilitation providers are leaders in developing and applying innovative techniques that can help you recover and resume your life.
• Connecting Hearts for Support group: The group provides education and support to individuals who have had a heart attack, are living with a heart condition or are at risk for cardiovascular disease.
• Heart health screenings: Prevention is the best way to manage heart disease, and screenings are available to detect early signs of cardiac and vascular disease and identify risk factors.