Heart Valve Center: Your Heart in Good Hands

On December 6, 2022, Missouri Baptist Medical Center performed its 1,000^th transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

“We are proud to reach this milestone,” says Michael Mauney, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon on staff at Missouri Baptist. “MoBap was among the first medical centers in the nation to adopt this procedure following FDA approval in Fall 2011.”

TAVR is a minimally invasive procedure for replacing a stenotic (tight) aortic valve in which the aortic valve narrows, reducing blood flow from the heart to the aorta. This procedure can also replace failed artificial aortic and mitral valves. TAVR is a treatment option to be considered for those with severe aortic stenosis, including many with worn-out surgical valves.

Are you at risk for a heart attack? Learn about your risk factors with our online heart health assessment tool and find help for improving your results.

At the Washington University Heart Failure Center at Missouri Baptist, we use a team approach to develop an individualized plan of care for you to manage your disease.

When Tina needed a new mitral valve, she benefited from BJC HealthCare’s collaborative approach to care that connected her with a multidisciplinary team of heart specialists. Her journey included seamless coordination between medical teams at two BJC HealthCare facilities: Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital and Missouri Baptist Medical Center (MoBap).

Diagnosing a heart condition often requires a combination of cardiovascular diagnostic and screening tests. These advanced tests can often determine the existence, type and severity of heart disease.

At Missouri Baptist Medical Center, our Cardiac Diagnostics Center is equipped with advanced technology and expertly trained staff to conducts these tests. Your test results will be evaluated by a board-certified cardiologist on staff at MoBap and discussed with your physician to tailor a treatment plan for your specific condition.

Todd Stewart, MD, is no stranger to critically ill patients and life-saving procedures. As a spinal neurosurgeon and chief of neurosurgery at Missouri Baptist Medical Center, it’s all in a day’s work. But it came as a shock when he suffered a life-threatening heart attack last year.

When a progressive eye disorder called keratoconus sent Lori Bell on a gradual path toward becoming legally blind, she and her husband, Don, made a pledge.

Jason Broomfield, 61, a St. Louis Metro Link security guard, had always been nervous about hospitals and needles. But when Jason began experiencing difficulty breathing and unbearable stomach pain, he was left with no choice. He headed to the Christian Hospital Emergency Department to get answers.

Tom Caspari thought he was too healthy to have a heart attack.

When the need for surgery arose, this close-knit family made the decision to travel to St. Louis for a second opinion and care at Missouri Baptist Medical Center (MoBap). However, Matt and Bill never expected to be in the hospital at the same time, much less have heart surgery on the same day.

Knowing the warning signs of a heart attack can make a big difference. The faster someone having a heart attack can get care, the better the outcomes.

In June 2024, Missouri Baptist Medical Center held a “Swing the Hammer” event to celebrate the construction of the new cardiovascular hybrid operating suite, which is scheduled to open in December.

Did you know that heart attacks have beginnings and these beginning signs occur in more than half of all heart attack patients? Learn the important early signs and symptoms.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.  There are several risk factors that contribute to heart disease.  Some risk factors, including gender, age and family history are uncontrollable, while other risk factors can be modified with lifestyle changes.  Learn how you can make changes to improve your heart health.

Everybody suffers occasionally from not getting enough sleep. But a lack of sleep can do more than just make you feel tired the next day. Chronic sleep problems can be a contributing factor to more serious health problems.

On Dec. 5, 2017, 57-year-old Ira Schalk began to feel nauseous on his job at a lead mining operation near Viburnum, Mo. For days he had felt tired, but thought it might be the flu. It wasn’t.

As a leader in heart care, Missouri Baptist Medical Center’s cardiac specialists partner with rural hospitals and medical helicopter and ambulance services to offer the region’s leading heart attack network, saving heart muscle and lives.

The treatment options at the Missouri Baptist Heart Center continue to advance, and our patients have access to the latest technologies and treatment options. 

When it came time for LaTisha (Tish) Smith of Belleville, Ill., to tell her family that she was having surgery, the hardest conversation was with her 9-year-old son, Lee.

Tracy Pick and her mom, Betty Mesplay, are no strangers to heart procedures. But this time the mother-daughter duo would be going through recovery together.

At Missouri Baptist Medical Center cardiac surgeons have treated atrial fibrillation surgically since 2001.

If you have been diagnosed with a heart valve problem, you are not alone.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death for "men, women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups in the United States." However, heart disease can be present with no symptoms until a significant event happens, like a stroke or heart attack.