Transcather Aortic Valve Replacement

To contact the TAVR team or to schedule an appointment, call (855) 795-8287.

Surgical AVR is the gold standard and an effective treatment of severe aortic stenosis and has been proven to provide symptomatic relief and long-term survival in adults. During the surgical valve replacement procedure, the damaged "native" heart valve is removed and replaced with a prosthetic valve. Surgical AVR is recommended for virtually all adult patients who do not have other serious medical conditions.

For patients who have been deemed inoperable for traditional open-heart surgery by a surgeon, a new procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is now available as a treatment option.

In November of 2011, the Food and Drug Administration approved the Edwards SAPIEN Transcatheter Heart Valve for the treatment of patients with severe symptomatic native aortic valve stenosis who have been determined by a cardiac surgeon to be inoperable for open aortic valve replacement and in whom existing co-morbidities would not preclude the expected benefit from correction of the aortic stenosis. This new transcatheter procedure allows the diseased native heart valve to be replaced without open-heart surgery.

In October 2012, the FDA approved an expanded indication for the Edwards SAPIEN valve to enable the treatment of patients with severe, symptomatic native aortic valve stenosis who've been determined by a heart team that includes a cardiac surgeon and cardiologist to be high risk for open-chest surgery.