For years, cardiologists have placed stents in heart arteries to help open blockages. The procedure doesn''t require open-heart surgery. Instead, doctors pass the stent through a vein in the groin up to the blocked artery, where it''s left in place to help restore blood flow.

Now, a clinical trial is under way in St. Louis to determine whether it''s safer and more effective to fix leaky mitral valves in this same minimally invasive manner.

The research study is called EVEREST II, which stands for Endovascular Valve Edge-to-Edge Repair Study. Instead of using a stent, interventional cardiologists run a small clip through the vein in the groin up to the mitral valve. The device is called the MitraClip, and it''s hooked to both flaps of the valve.

"Therefore, they don''t leak," explained Dr. John Lasala, an interventional cardiologist at Washington University School of Medicine and medical director of the cardiac catheterization lab at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. "But they do flex enough, so the blood can come back into the heart where it should be."

Patients who are candidates have moderate to severe mitral regurgitation.

Donald Sloyer, 85, of Owensboro, Ky., had a leaky valve.

"I felt washed out," said Sloyer. "When I sat down, I wanted to sleep; I had no energy."

When he learned he could avoid open-heart surgery, a five-day hospital stay and an even longer recovery period, Sloyer agreed to join the EVEREST trial.

"I lived by myself," said Sloyer, "and I know what the recovery time is with open-heart surgery, particularly at my age, and that is the main reason I did not want open-heart surgery."

The MitraClip procedure is not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration. It''s only available through clinical trials at Barnes and about two dozen other sites across the country.

"This is truly one of the most exciting parts of interventional cardiology," said Lasala, "to be able to take valves which previously have been the province of the surgeons, and to be able to suggest that we can repair them."

Since having the MitraClip placed on his valve, Sloyer is back at work in his garden in Owensboro.

"It''s allowed me to do everything that I could do before I had the problem," said Sloyer.

Lasala predicts that in five to 10 years, most valve repairs and even valve replacements will be done in this minimally invasive manner. For more information on the EVEREST trial, call 1-866-650-2868.

By Kay Quinn, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 7, 2006