Cardiologists Dr. Harit Desai, left, and Dr. Niraj Parekh hold surgical equipment used to repair patients’ heart valves during transcatheter mitral valve repair procedure at Loma Linda University Medical Center – Murrieta, where the hospital’s 100th TMVr procedure was completed recently. Valley News/Courtesy photo
MURRIETA – Elenita Tan’s organs were failing, and as physicians at Loma Linda University Medical Center – Murrieta faced a true do-or-die situation, they opted to perform a transcatheter mitral valve repair procedure that ultimately saved the 83-year-old woman’s life.By the time Tan arrived at the hospital, she was suffering from acute congestive heart failure, according to Dr. Harit Desai, the associate director for the cardiac catheterization lab and structural heart intervention program at LLUMC – Murrieta. Before long, Tan experienced multiorgan system failure, placing her at high risk for serious and possibly lethal complications, he said.“I really didn’t think I was going to make it,” Tan said, who worked as a registered nurse in both New York and Californi
