Valve job – Symposium explains ventricle procedure to restore the heart’s ‘geometry’ The International Heart Institute in Missoula

What do Missoula and Paris have in common?

If you said writers, well sure, but that’s not the right answer.

Nope, the answer is a pioneering procedure performed by heart surgeons.

The surgery, generally done to help those who’ve suffered heart attacks, was first done in Paris in 2000. Since then, the "sling" procedure has been done 29 times at the Bichat Hospital, Dr. Ulrik Hvass, a surgeon there, said Wednesday at a conference in Missoula.

Heart surgeons at St. Patrick Hospital first performed the procedure a year and a half ago, and have now done the surgery on five patients.

"You know, Missoula is a very interesting place, always interested in the new technologies," said Hvass, who spoke at the 15th annual Rocky Mountain Valve Symposium http://www.rockymountainvalvesymposium.org/ , which is sponsored by the International Heart Institute of Montana Foundation http://ihimontanafoundation.org/ . "The doctors here are always looking to move ahead."

By MICHAEL MOORE of the Missoulian

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2005/07/14/news/local/news03.txt