When Norma's mitral valve became severely damaged, daily life was difficult and the situation appeared hopeless. She needed open heart surgery, but at Norma's age, it wasn’t an option. That's when Penn offered her a innovative procedure called MitraClip, a catheter-based treatment for patients considered too high-risk for open heart surgery. Penn Medicine performed the second MitraClip procedure in the United States over 10 years ago and is one of the only hospitals in the area performing this minimally-invasive option. Now, Norma will never have to leave her Marine’s side. To learn more about Penn’s Heart Valve Disease Program and the MitraClip procedure, visit https://www.pennmedicine.org/for-patients-and-visitors/find-a-program-or-service/heart-and-vascular/heart-valve-disease Meet interventional cardiologist Howard Herrmann, MD: https://www.pennmedicine.org/providers/profile/howard-herrmann Watch more videos about the Penn Heart & Vascular Center    • Heart & Vascular   Like The Penn Heart & Vascular Center on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PennHeartandVascular Follow Penn Medicine on Twitter https://twitter.com/pennmedicine