Transcatheter Aortic Valve Management (TAVR)
Aortic Valve Replacement for Patients Who are Not Candidates for Open Heart Surgery
The cardiovascular team at Good Samaritan Hospital now offers the
Transcutaneous Aortic Valve Management program for patients who are not candidates for open heart surgery.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR TAVR VIDEO
Who is a Good Candidate for Aortic Valve Replacement?
Up to 1.5 million people in the United States suffer from aortic stenosis,
a progressive disease that affects the aortic valve of their hearts. Approximately
250,000 of these patients suffer from severe symptomatic aortic stenosis,
often developing debilitating symptoms that can restrict normal day-to-day
activities, such as walking short distances or climbing stairs. These
patients can often benefit from surgery to replace their ailing valve,
but only approximately two-thirds of them undergo the procedure each year.
Many patients are not treated because they are deemed inoperable for surgery,
have not received a definitive diagnosis, or because they delay or decline
the procedure for a variety of reasons.
HOW DOES THE AORTIC VALVE REPLACEMENT WORK?
The new approach called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) utilizes
a biological valve, crimped onto its stent and folded inside a large-bore
catheter. The catheter is then introduced in the groin and threaded up
the aorta and inflated within the patient’s native calcified aortic
valve eliminating the need for surgical replacement of that valve. The
recently completed partner trial for transcatheter valve proved to be
significantly superior to medical treatment in inoperable patients with
severe symptomatic aortic stenosis.
This new procedure will allow cardiac specialists at Good Samaritan Hospital
to treat elderly patients with critical aortic stenosis who otherwise
would have had no other options for treatment of their progressive heart failure.

WHAT THE STUDIES SHOW
Patients who do not receive an aortic valve replacement (AVR) have no effective,
long-term treatment option to prevent or delay their disease progression.
Without it, severe symptomatic aortic stenosis is life-threatening –
studies indicate that 50 percent of patients will not survive more than
an average of two years after the onset of symptoms.
For more information about the Transcutaneous Aortic Valve Management program
at Good Samaritan Hospital call (213) 977-2239.