Courtesy Presbyterian Heart & Vascular Group
Aortic stenosis is a not-so-common term for one of the most common and most serious heart valve disorders. What’s more, this condition becomes more common with advancing age. Aortic stenosis occurs when the heart’s aortic valve narrows, obstructing blood flow from your heart into your aorta and onward to the rest of the body. It’s a progressive disease that allows calcium and scarring over time to take their toll on the heart valve.
Unfortunately, not all people with aortic stenosis experience noticeable symptoms until the amount of restricted blood flow becomes significantly reduced. But symptoms such as a shortness of breath, unusual fatigue, fainting, or chest pain are worth a visit to your health care provider to check for the possibility of reduced heart function.
Now for some good news! If you or a loved one has been told you need a new heart valve as a result of severe aortic stenosis, an advanced surgical treatment option known as Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) is available.
TAVR is a less invasive approach to treatment for severe aortic stenosis than a traditional open-heart aortic valve replacement. The procedure is often a good alternative for individuals who are either too sick or high-risk for open-heart surgery. People who have developed symptoms from severe aortic stenosis have about a 50% chance of living two years and a 20% chance at five years, without any kind of aortic valve replacement.
Advancing Heart Care
Instead of the surgeon opening up the chest and completely removing the native diseased heart valve, TAVR works by allowing a new valve to be inserted into the existing valve using a catheter and a stent with the valve attached. The repair procedure can be performed through one of multiple approaches: an incision in the leg (transfemoral) or an incision in the chest between the ribs (transapical). The outcome from both approaches is to secure the new heart valve in place and expand it to displace the diseased valve.
At Presbyterian Heart & Vascular Group (PHVG), our heart surgeons are proud to be among a specialized group of physicians who perform the TAVR procedure at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. We have worked as part of a multidisciplinary team to bring this innovative procedure to Texas Health Dallas and to area patients who have been diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis.
When you visit the Heart Valve Center at Texas Health Dallas for a TAVR evaluation, you meet with three heart specialists during a single visit. This dedicated heart team includes one of our imaging cardiologists, one of our interventional cardiologists and a cardiothoracic surgeon from Cardiac, Vascular & Thoracic Surgical Associates (CVT Surgical Associates). CVT Surgical Associates joins with us to provide premier surgical services as part of Texas Health Physicians Group. Together with a TAVR coordinator, our teams work to meet your needs for advanced heart care using the least invasive approach whenever possible.
Is TAVR Right for You?
If you have severe aortic stenosis and our heart team or your cardiologist determines that you are at high-risk or too sick for open-heart surgery, TAVR may be an alternative. A yes answer to one or more of the questions below means you may be a candidate for the newer valve replacement procedure.
- Have you had a stroke?
- Do you have a history of fainting/passing out?
- Have you had bypass surgery?
- Have you had a prior chest radiation?
- Have you been diagnosed with coronary artery disease, or CAD?
- Have you been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD?
- Do you have cardiac arrhythmias?
From here, you will want to discuss TAVR fully with a cardiovascular team either inside the Heart Valve Center at Texas Health Dallas or at your specialist’s office. It’s also worth talking to your physician about other measures you can take to improve your heart health. Remember that the little changes you make today to your lifestyle can add up to a big change in your heart health tomorrow.
The cardiovascular physicians at Presbyterian Heart & Vascular Group and CVT Surgical Associates are committed to providing quality comprehensive heart and vascular services. For more information about PHVG, call 214-345-6000 or visit www.PresbyterianHeartandVascular.com. For information about CVT Surgical Associates, call 214-692-6135 or visit www.CardiacSurgeonsDallas.com. Physicians employed by Texas Health Physicians Group practice independently and are not employees of the hospital or Texas Health Resources.
