PHOENIX — Imagine having a heart condition so severe you can’t walk to your mailbox — and then being told you’re too sick for treatment.

That’s been the reality for thousands of people suffering from mitral annular calcification, or MAC, a dangerous and worsening calcium buildup around the heart valve affecting roughly 30% of older adults. Traditional open-heart surgery can be life-threatening for patients with MAC, but a new procedure is changing that.

In 2016, Dr. Paul Sorajja with Banner University Medical Center Phoenix became the first doctor in the world to use a specialized device called Tendyne to treat a patient with MAC. He then went on to lead the study that got the procedure approved by the FDA this year.

“The heart never stops. There’s no heart-lung machine,” Sorajja said.

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