![]() ![]() ![]() Now there’s a more viable option: In March, the Food and Drug Administration approved the world’s smallest mechanical heart valve. “No matter what we try, it just doesn’t work,” says Carl Backer (pictured at top), head of cardiovascular surgery at the Ann & Robert H. And surgical repair is tricky because many infants have too little valve tissue to stitch together. ![]() Traditional mechanical replacement valves are larger than a newborn’s, so they may compress the coronary artery or trigger problems in the heart’s electrical system. ![]() This presents an issue for surgeons trying to help infants born with heart defects. A newborn’s heart is about the size of its fist, the valves inside minuscule. ![]()
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