On March 2, Hartford Hospital’s structural heart team completed its 500th Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR). TAVR is designed to treat aortic valve disease, a common condition that develops as people get older.
With aortic valve disease, “the heart is pumping blood through a pinhole,” according to Dr. Francis Kieran, director of Hartford Hospital’s cardiac catheterization lab. “That puts significant strain on the heart muscle.”
When a patient in poor health has this condition and needs an aortic valve replacement, they may need to avoid open-heart surgery because the risk of complications is too high. The TAVR procedure was developed to help these higher-risk patients by inserting a stent that pushes the old valve out of the way and puts a new valve in its place.
Dr. Robert Hagberg, chief of cardiac surgery at Hartford Hospital, said the popularity of TAVR is growing because patients often tolerate it better than open-heart surgery and face a faster recovery. “It’s actually competing with standard surgical aortic valve replacement now because TAVR is becoming mainstream,” Hagberg said.
With more than a million people in the U.S. suffering from aortic stenosis, many patients have looked for treatment alternatives with fewer risks that can improve their quality of life.
“This procedure will continue to grow,” said Dr. Raymond McKay, director of interventional cardiology research. “The number of TAVR procedures completed at Hartford Hospital has tripled in the last three years and we expect it to quadruple in the next five years.”
The 500th TAVR procedure is a milestone that could only be achieved with the right team in place.
“This has really been a group effort and shows what a well-organized team can accomplish,” Dr. Kiernan said. “We’ve been able to do this successfully over the last five years and generate positive outcomes for patients.”