Contributed

A structural and interventional cardiologist who performed some of the first minimally invasive cardiology procedures of their kind in this region will return to FirstHealth of the Carolinas this summer to establish a Structural Heart Program at Reid Heart Center.

Dr. Steven J. Filby was on staff at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital before joining Okla-homa Heart Hospital Physicians, Oklahoma's largest cardiovascular specialty group.

As a structural and interventional cardiologist, he performs a variety of procedures including catheter-based defect closures and valve replacements, and catheter-based peripheral vascular interventions. Each of these treatments can often offer a reasonable alternative for patients for whom conventional surgery is considered too risky.

Filby will begin seeing patients in Reid Heart Center in August.

"We look forward to Dr. Filby's return to FirstHealth with great anticipation," said Dr. John F. Krahnert Jr., FirstHealth's chief medical officer. "The development of the structural heart program with Dr. Filby's excellent training and experience will bring tremendous value to our patients."

In addition to his lead role with the structural heart program and with the coordination of care throughout cardiology services, Filby will collaborate with cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Peter I. Ellman to establish a minimally invasive valve program that will incorporate the state-of-the-art technology of Reid Heart Center's hybrid operating rooms.

"Dr. Filby's experience and rare structural cardiology skill set, when coupled with Dr. Ellman's training and experience in valve surgery, places us in the enviable position of becoming one of the few institutions to qualify for a state-of-the-art valve program," Krahnert said. "These additional programs, along with the extensive services already provided, complete the resources for Reid Heart Center to be one of the premier cardiology centers in the Southeast."

A native of New Orleans, Filby graduated with honors from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in biological anthropology before earning his master's from the Louisiana State University Medical School. He completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif.; a general cardiology fellowship at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill; and a two-year interventional cardiovascular and endovascular fellowship at Ohio's renowned Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

He was affiliated with Moore Regional for two years before joining Oklahoma Heart Hospital Physicians, a specialty group that has been top rated for patient satisfaction by Consumer Reports magazine. His practice focuses on the medical and percutaneous (through the skin) treatment of coronary artery disease, peripheral arterial disease and carotid stenosis.

Filby, who has advanced training in the minimally invasive repair of congenital and valvular heart disease abnormalities, performed the hospital's first percutaneous ASD (atrial septal defect), PFO (patent foramen ovale) and patent ductus arteriosus closures during his prior association with Moore Regional.

With his return to FirstHealth, he will also perform valvuloplasty, alcohol septal ablation, carotid stent and percutaneous aortic valve replacement procedures.

He is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology, and is board eligible in vascular medicine.

Married, with three young children, Filby said he looks forward to his return to the area.

"My family and I are tremendously excited about returning to Pinehurst," he said. "We love the area and feel very connected to the people there. FirstHealth of the Carolinas, Moore Regional Hospital and Reid Heart Center are central to a wonderful medical community, and I look forward to resuming those relationships."

Filby's office will be in Reid Heart Center, which is on Page Road North, on the campus of FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital. His office can be reached at (910) 715-7650 or (855) 294-3278.