The Rush Valve Clinic offers the most advanced diagnostic and treatment services available for patients with valve disease. At the clinic, each patient meets with a team of specialists — including an interventional cardiologist, a cardiac surgeon and an echocardiographer — at the same time. Drawing on their wide breadth of experience in surgical and nonsurgical approaches to addressing valve disease, these specialists then develop an individualized treatment plan and present it to the patient on the same day.

Diagnostic services | Treatment services | Clinical trials
 Clinical team | Contact information

Diagnostic services

Rush patients benefit from the latest diagnostic procedures in heart care. In addition to a comprehensive physical examination, physicians at the clinic use a variety of techniques to diagnose valve disease, including the following:

• Echocardiography
• Electrocardiography
• Cardiac catheterization
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Treatment services

Physicians at the Rush Valve Clinic offer the full range of treatment options for all types of valve disease. These treatments include the following:

• Medication to reduce the symptoms of valve disease and decrease strain on the heart
• Valvuloplasty, a procedure in which a large balloon is inserted into the heart through a catheter and is then inflated to open a heart valve that has become narrowed
• Other minimally invasive procedures to replace or repair
  a damaged valve
• Surgery to replace or repair a damaged valve

Clinical trials of minimally invasive procedures

Minimally invasive procedures — during which physicians repair or replace a damaged valve via a catheter — can shorten recovery time and minimize the risks associated with open surgery, offering life-saving options to patients who otherwise have none. By participating in clinical trials of such procedures, the valve clinic brings patients the latest advances in treatment. Current clinical trials include the following:

• A study to determine the safety and effectiveness of a minimally invasive valve replacement procedure for patients with severe aortic stenosis who are not candidates for surgery
• A study to determine the safety and effectiveness of a minimally invasive valve replacement procedure for patients who have a dysfunctional conduit between the right ventricle and pulmonary artery
• A study to determine the effectiveness of a minimally invasive valve repair procedure compared to standard open heart surgery in the treatment of mitral regurgitation

For more information about these clinical trials, call (312) 942-6800.

Clinical team

Rami Doukky, MD, cardiac imaging specialist
Ziyad M. Hijazi, MD, MPH, interventional cardiologist
Clifford Kavinsky, MD, PhD, interventional cardiologist
Robert J. March, MD, cardiac surgeon
Anthony Perez-Tamayo, MD, cardiac surgeon
Jai Raman, MD, PhD, cardiac surgeon
Jeffrey S. Soble, MD, cardiac imaging specialist