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March 30, 2023 12 mins

On today's episode of Twin Trees Vet Talk, we have the honour and privilege of hosting the great Dr. Chris Orton. He is a veterinary heart surgeon at Colorado State University, and is one of the leading veterinary cardiac surgeons in the world. He is highly regarded for having started the world's first veterinary open heart surgery program many years ago.


In this episode (part 1: overview) we discuss a new medical breakthrough, which Dr. Orton and his team have pioneered at Colorado State University. The new minimally-invasive procedure is called Transcatheter Edge To Edge Mitral Valve Repair (also known as TEER or the V-Clamp Procedure), and this new technology has completely revolutionized the way mitral vale disease (MVD) can be treated in dogs.


This is truly a new frontier of veterinary medicine. Stay tuned for the rest of the TEER trilogy (or tetralogy -no pun intended) where we will discuss the specifics of the new procedure and how it works to repair the mitral valve, patient selection, comparisons between TEER and open heart surgery, Dr. Orton's journey to becoming a leading authority in veterinary heart surgery, and more.


The main advantages of TEER compared to open heart surgery for mitral valve repair include safety/ low-risk, quick recovery, cost, and availability. It is inherently minimally invasive. In the future, the procedure will become much more widely available, as more centres will be able to offer the procedure. Dr. Orton and his team at Colorado State University are committed to training other centres to help bring this amazing new treatment to more dogs with mitral valve disease.


TEER uses transesophageal echocardiography and fluoroscopy to guide placement of the V-Clamp device (developed by Hongyu Medical in Shanghai, China) to reduce the leak (backwards flow of blood) across a diseased mitral valve.


We hope you enjoy this episode! Please leave your questions and comments below!

FULL BLOG POST: https://twintreesvet.com/blogs/vet-talk/a-new-hope-for-dogs-with-mitral-valve-disease-mvd-teer-v-clamp-twin-trees-vet-talk-podcast


-photo credit:⁠ Instagram: @corgnelius⁠


CHAPTERS:

00:00 Teaser

0:42 Intro: Christopher Orton, DVM, PhD, DACVS

1:24 Mitral Valve Disease Background

01:56 It started with a trip to Shanghai Jan 2020, TEER in humans

03:05 credit to Hongyu Medical in Shanghai, China

03:16 This new procedure has revolutionized the treatment of canine mitral valve disease

03:44 Contrasting open heart surgery for mitral valve repair

04:39 Advantages of TEER: minimally invasive, safety, recovery, availability

05:06 Pioneering TEER and training new centres

06:47 The quick recovery

7:29 Refining the technique and sharing the knowledge

7:45 Patient criteria: age, weight, stage of MVD

9:15 The procedure

10:19 how to sign up

11:25 Thank you Dr. Orton!


WELCOME TO TWIN TREES VET TALK! An informal chat with Dr. Lopez (Emergency Veterinarian) and friends to share our perspective on pet predicaments, being a veterinarian, our shared love for animals and more! Have a quick question? Want to run something by us? Or just need our two cents? This is your chance! Each week we select a handful of questions to answer.


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