The senior heart specialists from The Heart Hospital have come together to provide the essential information that anyone diagnosed with an aortic stenosis (narrowing heart valve) needs to be aware of. Consultant Cadiologist and Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, Dr Michael Mullen and Mr John Yap look at all the available treatment options for this heart condition that cannot be treated by drugs.
A new minimally invasive technique has been developed that allows a new heart valve to be implanted through a tube inserted into a blood vessel. This treatment is known as Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI). The advantages of this new technique are that it avoids opening the chest and the use of a heart-lung bypass machine and therefore has a quicker recovery time. The recommendation of which treatment is best for you is usually determined by a multidisciplinary heart team including doctors such as cardiologists, cardiac surgeons and anaesthetists. The heart team will consider the severity of your symptoms and other illnesses you may have that would increase the risk or reduce the benefit of one or other treatments. Occasionally, the narrowed heart valve can be simply stretched using a balloon (balloon aortic valvoplasty) or no intervention may be required.
In this article they describe the various options for treating aortic stenosis and outline the pros and cons of each treatment option.
Treating aortic stenosis with Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) surgery by Dr Michael Mullen and Mr John Yap
