Open Heart Surgery Alternative

A less invasive alternative to open heart surgery could change the standard of care for patients requiring aortic valve surgery. Known as TAVR (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement), the new procedure eliminates the need to crack open the rib cage, stop the heart and place the patient on a heart-lung bypass machine.

Instead, TAVR is performed by inserting a catheter either through the femoral artery in the groin or through a small incision in the chest. The mechanical valve is guided into place and, once it reaches the aorta, it expands to push the failing valve aside. Most patients do not require general anesthesia, but undergo the procedure under sedation, and the recovery time is reduced from months to days.

The results of two clinical trials on more than 1,000 subjects indicate that the rates of death, stroke and hospitalization in the year following surgery were substantially reduced with TAVR as compared to traditional surgery. Approximately 60,000 intermediate and high-risk patients in the United States qualify to receive the procedure annually. Pending approval by the Food and Drug Administration for lower risk individuals, as many as 20,000 additional patients per year could avoid open heart surgery using this technique.