TAVR

Aortic valve replacement is a viable treatment for severe aortic stenosis. The condition is characterized by the narrowing of the heart's aortic valve, which effectively reduces or blocks blood flow on its way from the heart to the aorta. This, in turn, supplies blood to the rest of the body.

Aortic stenosis causes your heart to begin working harder to continue pumping blood throughout your body. Over time, aortic stenosis can weaken your heart muscle and can cause the following complications:

• Aortic regurgitation
• Bleeding and/or blood clots
• Heart arrhythmia
• Heart failure
• Infection
• Stroke

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a less invasive alternative to traditional heart valve replacement surgery for patients with severe aortic stenosis. TAVR does not require your surgeon to open the chest cavity, like they would with a traditional, open-valve replacement. This new approach allows for the shortest and most direct route to the diseased valve resulting in a shorter procedure—two hours versus four or five hours—and shorter recovery time.

TAVR allows our highly skilled surgical team at Methodist Healthcare to insert a new aortic valve into the body via the femoral artery or by using a small incision between the ribs on the left lower chest. Both of these methods allow our surgeons to insert the replacement aortic valve directly into the heart.

If you experience chest pain, shortness of breath and dizziness over a period of time, you may be dealing with heart valve disease. If not treated, you can experience heart failure. TAVR can provide relief to heart disease and ultimately increase overall health.

Since TAVR is much less stressful than open-heart valve replacement, it is an exciting new option for older or non-operative patients who are not good candidates for more invasive surgery. Benefits of TAVR include healthier heart outcomes and better quality of life for patients who previously had no other treatment options.