Ashwat Dhillon, MD, approaches transcatheter cardiac therapeutics with the same precision, patience and strategic thinking that has defined his decades-long love affair with golf.
Just as he carefully reads the subtle breaks of a putting green before tapping the ball toward the cup, the interventional cardiologist meticulously analyzes each patient’s unique cardiac anatomy before developing an individualized treatment plan.
“Interventional and structural cardiology is constantly innovating and developing new techniques to treat major heart conditions with percutaneous or minimally invasive approaches,” said Dr. Dhillon, of Samaritan Cardiology – Corvallis. “The multi-disciplinary heart team at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center is made up of general cardiologists, cardiac surgeons and interventional cardiologists. That is the whole ball game, as far as I am concerned — to treat major heart diseases with a team-based approach, doing what is best for each individual patient.”
The structural heart team has seen a steady increase in procedural volume, with TAVR cases up from approximately 40 to 50 done annually in 2020 to approximately 130 in 2024. The procedure benefits patients with short hospital stays and dramatically reduced recovery times.
Procedures like transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, and mitral transcatheter edge-to-edge repair of the mitral valve, or MitraClip, represent a paradigm shift in cardiac care. Instead of opening the chest, physicians replace or repair heart valves percutaneously via a catheter from the groin, usually without needing any skin sutures.
“This is a classic example of something that is done with a multidisciplinary heart team,” Dr. Dhillon said. “Even though TAVR is a percutaneous procedure, the cardiac surgeons are deeply involved in evaluating the patients and performing the procedure with interventional cardiology.”
The collaborative approach brings together interventional cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, imaging specialists and other care team members to determine the optimal treatment for each patient.
“This leads to a more cohesive evaluation of all patients, and a team-based approach where evidence-based medicine is used to make decisions for patients rather than decisions being made in silos or in a vacuum,” Dr. Dhillon said.
Samaritan’s expanded structural heart program with TAVR, MitraClip, percutaneous closure of congenital heart defects and other procedures means most of these complex structural heart cases can be done at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. Patients from the Oregon Coast to the Cascade foothills receive state-of-the-art cardiac procedures close to home.
The recovery advantages are equally impressive. While traditional surgical aortic valve replacement typically requires a lengthy hospital stay, TAVR and MitraClip patients usually go home the next day.
Dr. Dhillon grew up in a small town in the Punjab region of northern India, with a nearby golf course providing one of the few recreational activities.
“It was a great way to stay busy,” he said. “I would go out on the empty golf course and hit balls all by myself.”
After meeting his wife during medical school in their native India, the couple moved to the United States where Dr. Dhillon completed his medical residency in the Cleveland Clinic health system. This was followed by multiple fellowships at the USC Keck School of Medicine and Providence St. Vincent Medical Center before their move to Corvallis.
“My wife and I did a tour of Corvallis and just fell in love with this small college town,” Dr. Dhillon said. “The team at Samaritan was really invested in the community. It just seemed like a really good fit.”
Dr. Dhillon is passing on his love for golf to his 11-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son.
“They both like to play golf, which is a blessing for me,” Dr. Dhillon said. “I frequently take them out to hit some balls at the range or out for a round golf.”
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