Eye On Health: Beacon offers widest range of minimally invasive procedures in region

Cheryl Scheidt wasn’t feeling herself last year, unable to walk even 10 steps without losing her breath. She did the right thing by calling her doctor.

He led her to cardiac and thoracic surgeon Amjad Syed, MD, at Elkhart General Hospital, who diagnosed a significant leak in her mitral valve. Making just a small incision, Dr. Syed performed a procedure to seal the leak called a mitra clip, a relatively new procedure now being offered at both Elkhart General and Memorial hospitals.

By using leading-edge technology, Beacon Health System heart and vascular specialists now offer the region’s widest range of minimally invasive procedures to correct problems — all available close to home.

“They’ll go to Cleveland or Mayo or Chicago and unfortunately a lot of the doctors don’t even know the amazing things happening right here,” said Memorial Hospital’s Mayank Mittal, MD. “These are valve replacements that two or three years ago would have required a full open heart surgery. These are not experimental. These are FDA-approved procedures.”

Scheidt is thrilled to have her stamina back.

“We usually go to Gatlinburg once a year, and the last time we went, I couldn’t walk,” she said. “I had to stay in the car. We’re going to go this fall again, and I’m going to get out and walk.”

Learn more in Eye on Health on WSBT-TV.