{"id":146336,"date":"2025-11-24T22:49:36","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T03:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=146336"},"modified":"2025-11-24T22:49:36","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T03:49:36","slug":"st-lukes-performs-first-procedure-using-shortcut-device-for-safer-heart-valve-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=146336","title":{"rendered":"St. Luke\u2019s Performs First Procedure Using ShortCut\u2122 Device for Safer Heart Valve Treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo caption \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>From left, along bedside:\u00a0<\/strong>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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bethlehem, Pa. \u2013 St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network has reached an important milestone in advanced heart care. Members of St. Luke\u2019s Structural Heart Program, an integral part of our award-winning heart and vascular team, were among the first in Pennsylvania to use the Pi\u2011Cardia ShortCut\u2122 device, an innovative technology designed to make certain high\u2011risk heart valve procedures safer and more predictable.<\/p>\n

The ShortCut\u2122 device was used during a valve\u2011in\u2011valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in a patient with a previously implanted surgical bioprosthetic aortic valve. If a patient\u2019s 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\u2019s groin.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis 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,\u201d said Dr. Amortegui.<\/p>\n

Why Some Patients Cannot Have a Standard Valve\u2011in\u2011Valve TAVR<\/strong><\/p>\n

Patients who have undergone open\u2011heart surgery to receive a tissue (bioprosthetic) aortic valve often require another valve procedure years later when the first valve wears out. A valve\u2011in\u2011valve TAVR is a minimally invasive way to treat this without repeating open\u2011heart surgery.<\/p>\n

However, some patients have what is known as low coronary height, meaning their heart\u2019s coronary arteries sit very close to the valve. In these situations, when a new valve is placed inside the old one, the old valve\u2019s leaflet can be pushed upward and block blood flow to the coronary arteries. This can be dangerous and potentially life\u2011threatening.<\/p>\n

How ShortCut\u2122 Helps<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ShortCut\u2122 device is designed to gently open the old surgical valve\u2019s leaflet before the new valve is implanted. By precisely splitting the leaflet, ShortCut\u2122 helps:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Prevent the leaflet from blocking coronary arteries<\/p>\n

\u2022 Make valve\u2011in\u2011valve TAVR safer for patients with low coronary height<\/p>\n

\u2022 Offer a minimally invasive alternative to repeat open\u2011heart surgery<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore ShortCut\u2122, the only other options for these high\u2011risk 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,\u201d said Dr. Sarnoski. \u201cShortCut\u2122 provides a safer and more durable solution for many of these complex cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking Ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n

Experts estimate that by 2035, more than 40,000 valve\u2011in\u2011valve procedures will be performed in the United States each year. A significant portion of these cases will require leaflet\u2011modification technologies like ShortCut\u2122 to ensure safe coronary blood flow.<\/p>\n

For more information about St. Luke\u2019s heart valve program, visit\u00a0sluhn.org\/heart<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About St. Luke\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n

Founded in 1872, St. Luke\u2019s 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\u2019s biggest employer.<\/p>\n

The Network\u2019s 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\u2019s hospitals operate the largest network of trauma centers in Pennsylvania, with the Bethlehem Campus being home to St. Luke\u2019s Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n

Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke\u2019s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley\u2019s first and only four-year medical school. It also operates the nation\u2019s oldest School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 50+ fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 500+ residents and fellows.<\/p>\n

St. Luke\u2019s has been named a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World\u2019s Best Hospital. It is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare\u2019s five-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. In 2025, the Network earned straight A\u2019s 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\u2019s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.<\/p>\n

Information provided to TVL by:
\nGary R. Blockus<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo caption \u2013\u00a0From left, along bedside:\u00a0Jesse 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 … Continue reading St. Luke\u2019s Performs First Procedure Using ShortCut\u2122 Device for Safer Heart Valve Treatment<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146337,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ShortCut.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146336"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=146336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/146337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=146336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=146336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=146336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}