TAVR for Heart Disease

Overview
TAVR, or transcatheter aortic valve replacement, is used to treat aortic stenosis. TAVR replaces a faulty aortic valve with a valve made from animal tissues. The procedure is intended to restore the proper flow of blood that was limited by the original thickened valve. TAVR is an alternative to open-heart surgery.

What does it involve?
You will be sedated during the procedure, usually with moderate sedation, though sometimes with general anesthesia. A cardiologist will then insert a thin, flexible tube known as a catheter into the upper thigh or another location, and thread it into your heart. The new valve is placed inside of the old valve.

Recovery
The length of your hospital stay will vary. Some people are able to leave the hospital a day after their TAVR procedure. Depending on your recovery, you may be able to resume regular activities in less than a month.

You will require follow-up appointments after the procedure to ensure the valve is working correctly. Your doctor may prescribe medications like blood thinners or antibiotics after the TAVR procedure.

Results
In studies of people who were deemed too high risk for an open-heart procedure, TAVR was found to have lower risks of death or serious postsurgical complications. Another study of people deemed low risk for an open-heart procedure compared outcomes between TAVR and open-heart surgery. The study found that people who had TAVR had similar outcomes to those who had open-heart surgery.

Constraints
TAVR carries risk of certain complications, like all medical procedures. Some of the possible complications include damage to the heart that requires a pacemaker, stroke, heart attack, bleeding, and kidney injury.

For more details about this treatment, visit:

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) — Cleveland Clinic
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatment...

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) — Mayo Clinic
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/tra...