Minimally invasive surgery is one of the biggest trends in health care as a safer alternative to major surgery. One of the newest procedures, approved this year by the Food and Drug Administration, is Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR).
TAVR is a new option for high-risk patients with failing heart valves who are not candidates for open-heart surgery. In July, cardiovascular surgeons at ProMedica Toledo Hospital performed the first TAVR procedure in northwest Ohio. On Wednesday, Aug. 15, surgeons will perform two more TAVR procedures at Toledo Hospital.
During a TAVR procedure, a team of interventional cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons work side-by-side to treat aortic stenosis (narrowing of the valve) by replacing the patient's aortic valve through a catheter -- avoiding both traditional open-heart surgery and heart-lung bypass.
Only 150 hospitals in the nation currently offer TAVR.
Michael Moront, MD, a cardiothoracic surgeon at ProMedica Toledo Hospital, will be available for an interview about his involvement in the hospital's first TAVR procedures.
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