Heart patients who are too sick to undergo open-heart surgery now have another option with a revolutionary new procedure that offers a less invasive way to replace faulty valves.
The new procedure is called Transcatheter aortic valve implantation or TAVI.
Patients with aortic stenosis, which is the degeneration and hardening of aortic valves, often suffer from shortness of breath, chest pain and fatigue and many die within two years without treatment.
These patients are often too sick to undergo the rigors of traditional open-heart surgery.
TAVI now offers them a new lifeline and the procedure can be done one of two ways.
- The replacement valve, made of cow tissue, can be inserted in the femoral artery, at the groin, then moved through to the chest, pushing the diseased valve out of the way.
- Surgeons can also insert the valve directly through the tip of heart via a small incision in the chest.
Both procedures take two to four hours and a team of cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, nurses, technologists and an anesthesiologist are needed to complete the surgery.
The procedure also reduces recovery time and many patients can be safely discharged from hospital three or four days after the procedure.
The leading-edge cardiac procedure is now available at the Foothills Medical Centre.
The Foothills first performed the procedure this past February and so far nine patients have had success with the surgery.
The manufactured valve costs about $25,000 and is made by Edwards Lifesciences,
For more information on the TAVI procedure visit the Edwards Lifesciences website.
