Photo caption – From left, along bedside: Jesse Tate, RT; Jose Amortegui, MD; Christopher Sarnoski, DO, performing one of the first Valve-in-Valve Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (ViV TAVR) in the state using the Pi-Cardia ShortCut device on Tuesday, November 18th.
Bethlehem, Pa. – St. Luke’s University Health Network has reached an important milestone in advanced heart care. Members of St. Luke’s Structural Heart Program, an integral part of our award-winning heart and vascular team, were among the first in Pennsylvania to use the Pi‑Cardia ShortCut™ device, an innovative technology designed to make certain high‑risk heart valve procedures safer and more predictable.
The ShortCut™ device was used during a valve‑in‑valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in a patient with a previously implanted surgical bioprosthetic aortic valve. If a patient’s initial valve replacement begins to reach end-of-life, this procedure is done to place a new valve over top of the existing one by a catheter inserted via a small incision in the patient’s groin.
The procedure was performed by Christopher Sarnoski, DO, Section Chief of Interventional Cardiology and Medical Director of Structural Heart Disease, and Jose Amortegui, MD, Chief of Cardiac Surgery.
“This device represents a major step forward in protecting patients with complex anatomy. It allows us to safely treat individuals who previously had no good options often involving redo open heart surgery,” said Dr. Amortegui.
Why Some Patients Cannot Have a Standard Valve‑in‑Valve TAVR
Patients who have undergone open‑heart surgery to receive a tissue (bioprosthetic) aortic valve often require another valve procedure years later when the first valve wears out. A valve‑in‑valve TAVR is a minimally invasive way to treat this without repeating open‑heart surgery.
However, some patients have what is known as low coronary height, meaning their heart’s coronary arteries sit very close to the valve. In these situations, when a new valve is placed inside the old one, the old valve’s leaflet can be pushed upward and block blood flow to the coronary arteries. This can be dangerous and potentially life‑threatening.
How ShortCut™ Helps
The ShortCut™ device is designed to gently open the old surgical valve’s leaflet before the new valve is implanted. By precisely splitting the leaflet, ShortCut™ helps:
• Prevent the leaflet from blocking coronary arteries
• Make valve‑in‑valve TAVR safer for patients with low coronary height
• Offer a minimally invasive alternative to repeat open‑heart surgery
“Before ShortCut™, the only other options for these high‑risk patients were a redo sternotomy, which carries significantly higher surgical risk, or placing stents in a snorkel fashion out into the aorta, which further limits repeat coronary procedures,” said Dr. Sarnoski. “ShortCut™ provides a safer and more durable solution for many of these complex cases.”
Looking Ahead
Experts estimate that by 2035, more than 40,000 valve‑in‑valve procedures will be performed in the United States each year. A significant portion of these cases will require leaflet‑modification technologies like ShortCut™ to ensure safe coronary blood flow.
For more information about St. Luke’s heart valve program, visit sluhn.org/heart.
About St. Luke’s
Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network with annual net revenue of more than $4.5 billion. With 23,000+ employees at 16 hospital campuses and 350+ outpatient sites, it is the Lehigh Valley’s biggest employer.
The Network’s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke’s hospitals operate the largest network of trauma centers in Pennsylvania, with the Bethlehem Campus being home to St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital.
Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley’s first and only four-year medical school. It also operates the nation’s oldest School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 50+ fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 500+ residents and fellows.
St. Luke’s has been named a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World’s Best Hospital. It is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare’s five-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. In 2025, the Network earned straight A’s from Leapfrog across all of its 11 acute care hospitals. It has earned 100 Top Hospital designations from Premier 11 years in a row, including in 2021 when its flagship University Hospital was identified as THE #1 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY. Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.
Information provided to TVL by:
Gary R. Blockus
