New alternative procedure to open heart surgery gives patients ‘lease on life’
LARGO, Fla. - Don’t let 86-year-old Esther Whitley’s age fool you.
With four kids, five grandkids and three great-grandkids, she didn’t have a desire to slow down soon, but her body had other plans.
"I had been in physical therapy for a knee and couldn't do it," she said. "I would get into an exercise and just have to sit down," Whitley said.
Whitley had chest pains and could barely breathe. Doctors determined she had a leaky valve and a tumor in her heart.
Pictured: Esther Whitley
"Because of her advanced age and frail condition, she was not deemed to be a candidate for open-heart surgery," Dr. Saurabh Sanon, Regional Medical Director Structural Heart Therapies for the HCA West Florida Division, said.
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Dr. Sanon told Whitley about a new option called the Seattle Procedure. It stands for Simplified Extraction of Atrial Tumor With Targeted Loop Electricity.
"We went into the right side of her heart with a set of telescoping catheters and a basket, and we used a set of snares, which we then used to capture the tumor with one snare and cut the stock of the tumor with the second snare using electric artery," Sanon shared.
The procedure was first done in 2022 by a doctor in Seattle, Washington. Sanon was the first healthcare provider in Florida to do the procedure in December with Whitley as his patient.
"I would just encourage anybody facing what I faced to go for it. I truly feel like it is giving me a new lease on life. I no longer have the pain and the shortness of breath and am fairly certain that when I see Dr. Sanon again, he'll give me physical therapy, and I'll be back in the gym," she said.
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Whitley stayed overnight at HCA Florida Largo Hospital, then a few weeks later, she had another procedure done to repair the leaky valve.
"I was definitely very excited, and I realized that this would be an option for a lot of older patients in my community," Sanon said.
Whitley is one of only a handful of patients across the country who’ve undergone this procedure.
She said she’s feeling good and getting stronger every day. Sanon said if you’re experiencing similar symptoms, talk with your cardiologist about all of your options.