Transcatheter aortic valve replacement is a minimally invasive procedure for people who have been diagnosed with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis and who may be too ill or too high-risk for open-heart surgery. Aortic stenosis is a narrowing of the heart’s aortic valve opening, which does not allow normal blood flow through the heart. It is most often caused by age-related calcification, but can also be caused by a birth defect, rheumatic fever or radiation therapy.
The TAVR procedure allows a new valve to be inserted within the damaged aortic valve, allowing blood to flow through the heart normally. This minimally invasive procedure uses a catheter to replace the aortic valve instead of opening the chest and completely removing the damaged valve. The valve can be placed using several different approaches. The transfemoral approach utilizes the femoral artery in the patient’s leg, the transapical approach delivers the catheter through the apex of the heart, and the transaortic approach utilizes the ascending aorta to deliver the replacement valve. As of April 14, 2016, eight patients at MVHS were treated with the TAVR surgery.
This groundbreaking procedure opens up treatment options to patients who would not previously been candidates for open heart surgery. In many cases, the TAVR procedure allows significantly reduced recovery times and a shorter hospital stay than traditional open heart procedures.
The Cardiac Program staff at St. Elizabeth Medical Center has been working for a number of months to bring the procedure to the community. The organization has invested nearly $3 million dollars in the program including a specialized hybrid operating room, specialized equipment and the training of staff. The procedure also involves a team of specialized physicians including cardiac surgeons, cardiologists and anesthesiologists.
In March 2016, the Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) performed the first three successful TAVR surgeries in the Mohawk Valley. The team involved Dr. Frederick Joyce, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the MVHS Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery Group, and several cardiologists, Dr. Rakesh Bhan, Dr. Hugh MacIsaac and Dr. Michael Sassower of Central New York Cardiology, and Dr. Prasanna Kumar of Slocum-Dickson Medical Group. It also required the collaborative efforts of the Cardiac Catheterization Lab and Cardiac Surgery teams at the St. Elizabeth Campus of MVHS.
MVHS would like to thank Dr. Joyce, Dr. Bhan, Dr. MacIssac, Dr. Sassower, Dr. Kumar, the cardiac anesthesiology team and all of the staff members who made these procedures possible. We look forward to using the TAVR procedure to improve the cardiac health of our community.