Please contact our Structural Heart Program Manager at 424-610-1678.
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) at Providence Saint John’s Health Center
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) at Providence Saint John’s Health Center
At Providence Saint John’s, patients with severe aortic stenosis are benefitting from a minimally invasive approach to valve replacement called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).
Severe aortic stenosis is a narrowing of the aortic valve that prevents normal blood flow to your body. This is usually caused by the build-up of mineral deposits, typically calcium, on the aortic valve leaflets.
Over time, the leaflets become stiff, reducing their ability to fully open. When the leaflets don’t fully open, your heart works harder to push blood through the aortic valve. Eventually, your heart muscle may weaken, increasing the risk of heart failure when your heart cannot supply enough blood to the body. It is a life-threatening condition, resulting in symptoms like chest pain or tightness, heart palpitations, fatigue and shortness of breath.
By eliminating the need for open heart surgery, TAVR offers important advantages to patients – including those without symptoms. Instead of open heart surgery, it provides an alternate, minimally invasive option for patients who are considered low risk for traditional valve replacement. It also brings new hope to patients who have been deemed ineligible for surgery due to age or medical condition.
A traditional valve replacement requires the chest to be surgically opened. With TAVR, a collapsible artificial aortic valve is inserted into the heart via a thin, flexible tube called a catheter, requiring only a small incision in the thigh or groin.
The catheter is threaded through the femoral artery to the heart and the replacement valve is inserted inside the existing damaged valve. Once the new valve is expanded, it pushes the old valve leaflets out of the way and immediately takes over the job of regulating the heart’s blood flow. This minimally invasive procedure is performed while the heart is still beating, eliminating the need for cardiopulmonary bypass. The new implanted valve helps improve blood flow circulation from your heart to the rest of your body.
TAVR has many benefits, including:
- Frequently done under minimal sedation without requiring intubation
- Immediate improvement in symptoms and quality of life
- No chest incision, making it a minimally invasive procedure
- Performed without stopping the heart, eliminating the need for cardiopulmonary bypass
- Shorter recovery times
- Shorter hospital stay
- Significantly less pain
In a recent U.S. randomized trial, aortic valve stenosis patients receiving only medical therapy had a one-year survival rate of 50%; with TAVR, one-year survival rates increased to over 70%.
It’s important to note that not all patients can benefit from TAVR. In most cases, TAVR is used with patients who are considered moderate or high-risk surgical candidates.
To determine if you’re a candidate for TAVR, talk to your cardiologist.
Why Choose Providence Saint John’s?
Determining which procedure or treatment is appropriate for you can be complex. At Providence Saint John’s, we involve experts from multiple specialties when we evaluate each patient, including interventional cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery.
We're now able to offer TAVR to a broader patient population – including those without symptoms – and provide earlier intervention for aortic stenosis, which can lead to significantly better outcomes for our patients.
