Heart Failure Treatments
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation is a heart failure treatment used to treat severe aortic stenosis, a condition where the aortic valve is narrowed or damaged. The TAVR procedure is used as an alternative to aortic valve surgery for patients who are considered to be at high risk for complications. It is implanted using three different approaches:
- Transapical, which is through a direct apical puncture
- Retrograde transfemoral, which is through the femoral artery
- Antegrade transfemoral, which is through a femoral vein.
The catheter is specially designed to hold compressed replacement tissue and to fix it tightly over the failed valve. The new valve is stuck to the artery wall with pressure from a balloon that is inflated at the end of the catheter.
TAVR was part of a trial study that ended in 2010 to access its success rates in patients with severe aortic stenosis, but who were ineligible for traditional surgery. The trial revealed that TAVR could reduce mortality rates in inoperable patients by 20%.