"Latest Heart Valve Treatment Allows More Patients To Avoid Open-Heart Surgery" - Marlene Cimons
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR (also called TAVI, for transcatheter aortic valve implantation), currently is approved only for patients who cannot have open-heart surgery or for whom it would be risky. These include the elderly and frail, and people with complications such as kidney disease and coronary obstructive pulmonary disease. For many of them, TAVR has been lifesaving. “We’re very thankful to have this technology,” said Paul Stelzer, MD, professor of cardiovascular surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “Now we can do something for octogenarians and 90-year-olds we couldn’t help before.” Many experts believe that TAVR will become the first-line valve replacement treatment for almost everyone with aortic valve disease.
- Paul Stelzer, MD, Professor, Cardiovascular Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai