A Milestone in Treating Aortic Valve Disease

Hartford Hospital’s structural heart team completed its 500th Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) in March 2017.

TAVR is designed to treat aortic valve disease, a common condition that develops as people get older.

With aortic valve disease, the heart is essentially pumping blood through a pinhole, putting significant strain on the heart muscle.

When a patient in poor health has this condition and needs an aortic valve replacement, they may need to avoid open-heart surgery because the risk of complications is too high. The TAVR procedure was developed to help these higher-risk patients by inserting a stent that pushes the old valve out of the way and puts a new valve in its place.

The popularity of TAVR is growing because patients often tolerate TAVR better than open-heart surgery and face a faster recovery. With more than a million people in the U.S. suffering from aortic stenosis, many patients have looked for treatment alternatives with fewer risks that can improve their quality of life.

The number of TAVR procedures completed at Hartford Hospital has tripled in the last three years and is expected to quadruple in the next five years.