Jacqueline Biederstedt hadn’t been feeling well for a while.
She was experiencing shortness of breath, fatigue and lack of energy. The Malinda, Ohio resident, with a history of quadruple coronary bypass surgery and an aortic valve replacement surgery, knew she needed a trusted cardiologist to help her feel better again.
“Dr. Taleb was working really hard to figure out what was going on,” Jacqueline recalls. “I was experiencing more and more issues. I was getting so tired. I thought, ‘I have to be doing better than this. I’m not even 80.’”
Jacqueline’s doctor is Mohammed Taleb, MD, an interventional cardiologist with Toledo Cardiology Consultants and director of the structural heart disease program at Mercy Health – St. Vincent Medical Center. A comprehensive exam showed him that Jacqueline had a severely leaking mitral valve, which was causing her to feel tired and short of breath. Complicating matters was the fact she had permanent atrial fibrillation, which requires her to be on strong blood thinners even though she had multiple episodes of bleeding.
Considering her previous history of quadruple coronary bypass surgery and aortic valve replacement, Jacqueline was definitely at high risk to have another open-heart surgery. Luckily, Dr. Taleb offered her to undergo the MitraClip procedure, which is a catheter-based approach to repair the mitral valve.
Dr. Taleb also knew she would benefit from the Watchman device. This procedure involves a device that plugs the left atrial appendage to prevent a stroke and, therefore, allowing a patient to come off strong blood thinners that are causing bleeding.
Dr. Taleb offered Jacqueline to do both catheter-based procedures at the same time – giving her the opportunity to have only one hospital stay and recovery.
Together, with Sinan Alo, DO, a general cardiologist with Toledo Cardiology Consultants and director of the echo laboratory at Mercy Health – St. Vincent Medical Center, as well as our surgical team, Dr. Taleb successfully performed the combined procedure of MitraClip and Watchman for Jacqueline on December 19, 2023. She was discharged home only two days after her procedures, and she has been feeling well since.
The MitraClip, or transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER), is a small clip that is attached to leaflets of the mitral valve. It is done through a small groin access and is used to treat a leaky mitral valve in patients who cannot have open-heart surgery. This then helps restore normal forward blood flow through the heart.
As for the Watchman device, it is used for patients with atrial fibrillation. It closes the left atrial appendage, preventing clots from dislodging and migrating to brain and thus reducing the risk of stroke. And it is used in patients who cannot take strong blood thinners due to bleeding risk or fall risk.
“I just felt confident that what Dr. Taleb was going to do would help me and that he had the ability to do it right,” Jacqueline adds. “He worked really hard to get it all together to get it to work. I had confidence that he would take good care of me!”
Learn about the heart and vascular services we provide at Mercy Health.
