Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)

I am fascinated with how technology has advanced and how it works, especially to fix cardiovascular diseases. I would like to share with everyone the coolest procedure that fixes aortic stenosis, called transcatheter aortic valve replacement, best known as TAVR. This procedure is for patients who suffer from severe aortic stenosis and whose advanced age puts them at high risk for death if they were to have open-heart surgery. The University of Iowa Heart and Vascular Center is one of a select group of centers across the nation, and the first in Iowa to offer this procedure to those qualified candidates (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, 2015). In 2011, this center was the first in the nation to receive certification for its cardiac valve program from The Joint Commission (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, 2015). It is important to note that this procedure is minimally invasive for the repair and replacement of the aortic valve. This procedure can be performed through two distinct sites, either from the patient’s thigh through the femoral artery or through a small incision on the lower left side of the patient’s chest. Sometimes the elderly have disease of the leg blood vessels; hence, the chest can be an alternative site (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, 2015).

 

Basically, with this procedure, the damaged aortic valve is replaced with a prosthetic valve. This new technology uses a catheter inserted through a small incision in a patient’s thigh that travels though blood vessels and can be used to replace a person’s failing heart valve in the aortic artery. This procedure involves a team of interventional cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, and imaging specialists of the heart (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, 2015). The recovery of this procedure is faster as opposed to open-heart surgery and it has proven to be a successful procedure. As we know, the blood passes through the aortic valve and then into our body where it perfusses our tissues and organs. If the valve is stenotic, then small amounts of blood can pass through this valve and symptoms develop such as shortness of breath and one can easily become tired. In the story of a 90-year-old woman, she would complain of being tired on a day-to-day basis and that led her to visit her doctor (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, 2015). She then was diagnosed with aortic stenosis and the doctor recommended for this procedure. She agreed to undergo TARV and she admits it was the best decision made for improving her health. After four days, she was allowed to go home and she says she had no pain at all after the procedure (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, 2015). She recommends this procedure for those who need it and overall she is doing well. Patients who don’t get treated for aortic stenosis can develop heart failure or cardiac arrest, and most importantly can die within a year of this problem (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, 2015). By the way, check out the article below and you can watch the animated video of this procedure, which is amazing!

 

Reference:

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. (2015). Transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Retrieved    from        http://www.uihealthcare.org/2column.aspx?id=227967

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. (2015).

Alma’s story: New lease on life.       Retrieved from    http://www.uihealthcare.org/2column.aspx?id=230803