RWJ Barnabas Health plays vital role in landmark cardiac study

RWJBarnabas Health played a significant role in a groundbreaking Partner 3 study that was recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the 2019 American College of Cardiology Scientific Session in New Orleans.
The Partner 3 Trial compared treatment with the minimally invasive Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) using the Sapien 3 valve, versus conventional open-heart surgical aortic valve replacement, in 1,000 patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis, who were considered to be at low risk of death from surgery.
Aortic stenosis is a narrowing of the aortic valve that occurs because of calcium deposits that cause the valve to narrow. Findings from this trial demonstrated that, even in this group of patients considered to be excellent candidates for heart surgery, death, stroke and the need for rehospitalization at one year were significantly less likely for those treated with TAVR compared with surgery.
“These are great findings for patients with aortic stenosis and those who care for them,” Dr. Mark Russo, chief of division of cardiac surgery at Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the Director of Structural Heart Disease at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital said in a statement.
The Partner 3 study, based out of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, demonstrated that TAVR was as good or better than surgery on nearly every metric and in every subgroup. “We now have two excellent treatment options for this condition. As an organization, we are proud to provide a leadership role and be among the highest enrolling centers in this groundbreaking study,” said Russo.
Russo, one of the co-authors of the study which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine: Transcatheter Aortic-Valve Replacement with a Balloon-Expandable Valve in Low-Risk Patients and a specialist in complex and reoperative aortic and valvular surgery, said that the Partner 3 studies represent a 10-year effort to expand and improve treatment options for patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis.
The results of the trial were presented as part of the late-breaking clinical trials at the American College of Cardiology 68th Annual Scientific Session in New Orleans, La.

CREDIT: Jessica Perry