MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU! To celebrate this International STAR WARS Holiday, we are bringing you Episode 2 of our tetralogy spotlighting a new frontier in veterinary medicine. In this episode of "A New Hope For Dogs With Mitral Valve Disease" we speak with one of the galaxy's most renowned veterinary heart surgeons, the Jedi Master, Dr. Chris Orton, to discuss more specifics on TEER| V-Clamp, the groundbreaking procedure that he and his team at Colorado State University have pioneered over the last 2 years.

In episode 1 we gave an overview of the 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.
Now in episode 2, we discuss more specifics of the new procedure and how it works to repair the mitral valve, as well as 

comparisons between TEER and open heart surgery. 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 patient selection, 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. The clamp mainly works by addressing prolapse of the valve.
We hope you enjoy this episode! Please leave your questions and comments below!