Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)

In this video, TAVR procedure patient Edward Taylor discusses his health issues stemming from Aortic Valve Stenosis. Dr. Nandu Gourineni  sheds light on the benefits of TAVR for elderly patients.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a procedure that replaces a diseased aortic valve with a man-made valve through a less-invasive procedure than traditional open-heart surgery. TAVR is used to treat a condition called aortic stenosis, which means the heart may have to work too hard to pump blood through the small valve opening to the rest of your body. This may lead to increasing heart failure.

During TAVR, the surgeon inserts a catheter through a blood vessel in your leg to deliver and implant the artificial valve into your heart.

What are the benefits of TAVR?

• 1% of patients experience stroke or death at 1 year post TAVR
• Catheter-based technique performed while the heart is still beating
• Inserts a new valve within your diseased aortic valve
• Less invasive option for severe aortic stenosis
• On average TAVR procedure lasts about 1 hour
• Typically associated with shorter hospital stay and recovery time

Who might need TAVR procedure?

You may need replacement of your aortic valve if you have progressive heart failure due to aortic valve stenosis. Factors making TAVR more likely to be recommended than an open heart procedure would include:

• Chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD)
• Diabetes
• Frailty
• History of stroke
• Kidney disease
• Large calcium deposits in the blood vessel that carries blood away from your heart (ascending aorta), called porcelain aorta
• Liver disease
• Older age
• Previous heart surgery
• Previous radiation treatment to your chest
• Weaker heart

For more information, consult your family physician or cardiologist.

The TAVR team at CRH.