Philly.com and GMA Feature First Patient at CHOP to Receive the Harmony Valve
Published on
Born with a congenital heart defect called tetralogy of Fallot, Mac Grieb had two open-heart surgeries before his first birthday, with additional surgeries planned in the future. However, when at 16 he needed an open-heart surgery to implant a new valve, his cardiologists at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) gave Mac and his family a new option: the experimental Harmony valve, an hourglass-shaped implant made with a metal frame and tissue from a pig heart, inserted via catheter through a vein. Mac became the first patient at CHOP to receive the Harmony valve.
Physicians are increasingly coming up with strategies to help delay or even avoid open-heart surgery.
