b'I N N O V A T I V E T E C H N O L O G Y A N D P R O C E D U R E S | E X P E R T C A R E | W E A R E H E R E 7The MitraClip(shown here)is threaded to the heart through a vein in the groin. After passing through the upper chambers of the heart and positioned just below the mitral valve, the V-shaped clip then brings the valves two fl aps, or leafl ets, closer together, allowing blood to fl ow forward while minimizing the backward leakage.Interventional cardiologist Dr. Shahab Moossavi of Concord Hospital Cardiology said the procedure opens the door to many patients who are not eligible for traditional open-heart surgery because they are elderly, frail or suff er other heart-related ailments.These are the patients where no surgeon would have off ered the surgical treatment because they are too sick, he said. But they tolerate the MitraClip procedure just fi ne.It is a much less traumatic procedure for the patient and the recovery is much faster, Dr. Moossavi said. Even elderly patients who suff er from other ailments often go home 24-48 hours after the procedure. In contrast, with open-heart surgery, its common for younger, healthier patients to remain in the Intensive Care Unit for fi ve to seven days. Dr. Moossavi is part of a Concord Hospital MitraClip team that includes two interventional cardiologists, Dr. Moossavi and Dr. Patrick Magnus; a cardiac imaging specialist, Dr. Charles Wicks; valve coordinator Rosheen LaValley, RN; and anesthesiologists from Anesthesia Associates, who work 2021 Abbott. All Rights Reserved. For illustrative purposes only.together to care for every mitral regurgitation patient.It makes us proud that in our community hospital, we can take care of patients without having to send them out of state and farther away from their families, Dr. Moossavi said.'