FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA – MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center (OCMC) has announced that its Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) Program’s cardiac team recently performed their 100th TAVR procedure.
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a minimally-invasive procedure that allows the aortic valve in your heart to be replaced with a new valve while your heart is still beating. The procedure is less invasive than traditional open-heart surgery with a much faster recovery time. A catheter is used to replace the heart valve instead of opening up the chest and completely removing the diseased valve. TAVR allows a new valve to be inserted within the diseased aortic valve, using the leaflets of the diseased valve to secure it in place.
TAVR is used to treat aortic stenosis, which is present in about seven percent of the population over age 65. Over time, calcium may cause your aortic valve to become stiff, limiting blood flow, causing symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, shortness of breath and palpitations. The minimally invasive TAVR procedure replaces the damaged aortic valve and is performed by an interventional cardiologist and a cardiothoracic surgeon.
“I would like to thank our staff and hospital administration for supporting this amazing TAVR program at Orange Coast Medical Center,” said Sanjiv Patel, M.D., interventional cardiologist at MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at OCMC. “Additionally, I would like to thank our referring physicians for trusting us with the care of their patients and supporting this program. It’s a great feeling to achieve our 100th TAVR procedure milestone, and I am looking forward to taking this program to even greater heights by incorporating leading-edge technologies to continue improving this well established and effective procedure resulting in exceptional patient outcomes.”
Patients who may be candidates for this procedure are carefully evaluated by OCMC’s highly-trained clinical heart team before determining that TAVR is the best option for treatment. For intermediate-risk and high-risk patients, and those not suitable for open-heart surgery, the less invasive TAVR procedure could be an option. TAVR can be performed through multiple approaches, including transfemoral (in the groin), trans-subclavian (clavicle area), transapical (in the chest between the ribs) and transaortic (in the upper chest). A sheath or hollow tube is inserted into the artery and a valve covered ‘balloon’ is inflated and anchors the new heart valve in place. The valve begins to work immediately.
To learn more about TAVR, visit memorialcare.org/TAVR or speak with a structural heart
coordinator at (844) 934-TAVR (8287).
Trace Longo
Longo Communications
Cell: 714.600.9811
E-mail: trace@longocommunications.com
Website: www.longocommunications.com
