Dr. Merhi

GRAND RAPIDS — A Lebanese cardiologist is making headlines for replacing valves in patients without performing open heart surgery. The procedure is a part of a five year long clinical trial and only 40 hospitals across the United States were selected to participate.

Dr. William Mohamed Merhi has performed the procedure on 13 patients so far and says all experienced satisfactory results. The clinical trial evaluates a transcatheter alternative to open heart surgery for patients with severe aortic stenosis. Merhi is Spectrum Health’s director of structural heart programs and says the procedure is already prominent in other countries.

Around the globe, nearly 300,000 people have been diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis and 100,000 of them are living in the U.S. “The quality of life for patients who have this procedure becomes greater,” Mehri said.

 Many of his patients are able to do activities they couldn’t have done before the procedure. “I’m so excited about what he is doing,” Merhi’s wife Farah said. She says the work of Arab Americans is often overlooked. “This is speaking volumes about our community.”