Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

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Longview Regional Medical Center is among the first hospitals in East Texas to perform transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

Now patients suffering from aortic stenosis, or hardening of the heart's aortic valve, may have the opportunity to have a TAVR procedure if recommended by their physician. This advanced procedure allows patients to undergo an aortic heart valve replacement without open heart surgery.

The TAVR procedure allows physicians to replace the heart valve by accessing the heart through the femoral artery in the thigh. Using image-guided equipment, the new valve is expanded in place of the diseased valve and the catheter is removed. This allows members of the heart team at Longview Regional Medical Center to make only a small incision in the upper thigh and a small incision in the chest, as opposed to completely opening up the chest cavity like in open heart surgery. The TAVR procedure typically only takes about two hours, and patients can expect to spend up to two days in the hospital.