Zach Haberlein

The First to Recieve the Harmony Valve

At 16-year-old, Zach Haberlein, from Frostburg, Maryland, was the first patient at WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s to successfully undergo treatment for a heart defect called tetralogy of Fallot with the Harmony™ Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve, a catheter-deployable bioprosthetic valve.  

“The new valve is for patients who have an underlying condition that results in a lack of pulmonary valve competency and are not a candidate for the much smaller, more limited previous balloon-deployable valves,” Alex Verhoeven, M.D., pediatric cardiologist at WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s, said. 

About 75 percent of patients with tetralogy of Fallot did not have access to a less-invasive catheter-based option because the diverse ways a pulmonary valve can develop made a universal valve challenging.

“Previously, all of these patients would require a bypass surgical approach to replace their valve due to the lack of available minimally invasive options for them,” Dr. Verhoeven said. “With a catheter-based deployment, they can typically go home the next day, do not have a large incision on their chest, can get back to their normal activities much faster, feel better faster, and do not undergo the risk of cardiopulmonary bypass.”

Waiting as Zach Grew

Haberlein was born with an almost completely obstructed pulmonary valve, which controls blood flow from the heart to the lungs so that it can refresh its oxygen supply before being pumped to the rest of the body. 
 
At two-days-old, he underwent emergency surgery to remove his pulmonary valve. He then lived without it for 15 years. 

Eventually, the WVU Medicine Children’s Pediatric Cardiology Team noticed some heart enlargement on Haberlein’s imaging tests, meaning it was time for him to receive his replacement valve. 

At the time, Verhoeven knew the Harmony Valve could be an option for Haberlein and worked with the valve’s creator, Medtronic, to create a valve for him. 

Since its release, approximately 1,000 Harmony Valves have been implanted in patients worldwide. WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s is one of 30 programs across the country equipped to perform the procedure. 

A Future for Zach

Even with a heart condition, Zach continued to push himself as a student athlete. 

He graduated from high school and is ready to start his first semester of college. 

"I don't have any limitations," he said. "At Golisano Children's, they want you to the best form of you that you can be."