KSHB: Saint Luke's offers innovative heart failure treatment

Kim Bradley had a heart attack in 2015 in Joplin which left her in heart failure. 

“It involved the front part of the heart, which is the most important part of the heart,” said Dr. Andrew Kao, a cardiologist at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute. 

She was referred to Saint Luke's Heart Failure Program at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute to be a part of a new clinical trial, the less invasive ventricular enhancement (LIVE) procedure, also called the ALIVE^TM trial. 

According to BioVentrix, the ALIVE^TM procedure is designed to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of the Revivent TC TransCatheter Ventricular Enhancement System; a hybrid closed-chest procedure to treat patients suffering from heart failure symptoms related to cardiomyopathy.

Dr. Kao says this minimally invasive procedure essentially zippers off the portion of dead heart muscle.

“It used to be surgeons had to cut out the dead part of the heart and suture back, so this is a very quick way of collapsing the aneurysm on itself so it goes away and you never have to cut down the middle,” Kao said. 

Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City is one of four trial centers in the nation to have completed this procedure. Kim is the third person to be treated with the procedure and only seven patients have had the implant in the United States. 

Hear what Kim has to say about her recovery and find out more about the ALIVE^TM procedure in KSHB-41's story below.