Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) Emily Wentzel Lynn Blazaskie Abstract Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement, or TAVR, is a procedure that is performed when a patient is in need of a new aortic valve. This is a procedure done to relieve symptoms of aortic stenosis. TAVR first began in France in 2002 and came to the United States in 2005. Cardiac Catheterization is the modality that is utilized in order to perform this procedure along with a cardiac catheterization team. The team includes cardiac catheterization technologists, doctors, nurses, cardiovascular surgeons, and ultrasound technologists. Cardiac Catheterization is a minor surgical procedure that is performed to test a hearts function. In the catheterization lab, there are multiple different pieces of equipment that are used in order to complete a successful TAVR procedure. Before TAVR was invented, patients had to get open heart surgery. Patients who need a TAVR procedure are usually around the age of 80, some older and some younger just depending on their condition. There are currently two types of commercially approved aortic valves in the Unites States, the balloon-expandable Edwards SAPIEN series and the self-expandable Medtronic CoreValve series. The steps of TAVR include getting access, inserting the pacemaker, finding the coplanar view, crossing the aortic valve, pre-treating the aortic valve, prepping the valve delivery device, placing the valve, deploying the valve, taking an ECHO, removing everything from the body, and using closure devices to secure the small whole where the sheath was placed. TAVR is still improving every day with new advancements in technologies, as there are different patients with different anatomy.https://digitalcommons.misericordia.edu/research_posters2021/1089/thumbnail.jp