The structural heart program at Washington University/Barnes-Jewish Hospital has completed its first cases using the J-Valve transcatheter device as part of the JOURNEY Trial, a national clinical study evaluating a novel treatment approach for native aortic regurgitation. The milestone expands access to transcatheter options for aortic regurgitation — a condition in which the heart’s aortic valve does not close properly, causing blood to leak backward into the heart — for patients in the region and beyond.
The JOURNEY Trial, which is currently enrolling, aims to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the J-Valve system as a less invasive alternative for patients with native aortic regurgitation who may not be candidates for traditional open-heart surgery. Director of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Tsuyoshi Kaneko, MD is National Principal Investigator for the trial and is leading the effort locally at WashU/BJH. Drs. Nishath Quader and Alan Zaharias of WashU Cardiovascular division and the rest of the team round out this effort.
The successful completion of these initial cases reflects the multidisciplinary collaboration that defines WashU’s structural heart program, bringing together specialists across interventional cardiology, cardiac surgery, imaging, and anesthesia. As the JOURNEY Trial continues to enroll, the team looks forward to contributing data that could help shape the future of transcatheter valve therapy for this patient population.