At 85 years old, Frank Tellier still operates heavy machinery around his farm. Last year, he started to become extremely fatigued – an unwelcomed symptom of what turned out to be a leaky heart valve. “I was going downhill and everybody was checking the other valve,” says Frank of his many doctors’ visits. “When I had it checked at CMC, they saw the problem was from the mitral valve.” The MitraClip®, offered by Abbot Vascular, is a minimally invasive procedure that closes the center of the mitral valve, allowing blood to flow to either side of the clip and decrease leakage. CMC is the first hospital in southern New Hampshire to offer this therapy. “I’ve been to other hospitals but the best one is CMC,” says Frank. “You feel confident the people you talk to give you the right answers.” The MitraClip® helps patients who are suffering from symptoms of valverelated congestive heart failure but aren’t responding to medication treatment and aren’t suitable candidates for surgery. “There was a real strong unmet need in the community,” says Fahad Gilani, MD, FACC, a cardiologist with the New England Heart & Vascular Institute. “We were seeing this disease process in our patients and we didn’t have an option for them.” “The last year and a half was difficult,” says patient Beverly Hannah, whose biggest symptom was shortness of breath. “I went from being a healthy person to having a heart attack and doing nothing.” Dr. Gilani notes that the MitraClip® can reduce hospital readmissions for heart failure by as much as 75%. “The goal is to improve quality of life and reduce symptoms and so far we’re seeing those results in patients who’ve had the MitraClip®.” Frank’s partner, Dick Tucker, says prior to the procedure, “he was really losing strength and endurance. Right afterwards he was almost back to normal. It improved everything.” “I can do a lot more now,” says Beverly who recently went with her collegeaged great-granddaughter to Portland, Maine. “I was so surprised I could keep up with her!” For more information on the degenerative mitral regurgitation and the MitraClip®, call the New England Heart & Vascular Institute at 800.437.9666 photos: Frank Tellier now has the strength to run heavy machinery on his farm Beverly Hannah and Dr. Gilani shortly after she received the MitraClip®