Page 19 - Inspire Health January/February 2015
P. 19
HEART-VALVE
SURGERY
Of all the muscles in your A GODSEND
body, the heart is the FOR THOSE To illustrate TAVR’s benefits, Singer
most important. It beats cites the example of a 90-year-old who
about 100,000 times a day, or about 35 AT RISK had the procedure done last year.
million times in a year. The man’s age and a disorder that can
That’s a serious workout. By: Patrick O’Donnell, Editor cause severe bleeding meant he wasn’t
Yet, as we age, the heart faces an open-heart candidate. Instead, Singer’s
more challenges. Photo courtesy LehighValley Health Network team opted for TAVR — and the patient
One of those is a condition called Dr. Raymond Singer, chief of cardiothoracic went home in four days.
aortic stenosis, in which the aortic valve surgery at Lehigh Valley Hospital. Today, the man is doing fine, and
narrows and restricts blood flow from is able to do the things he loves —
the heart to the body’s main artery. including golfing.
The American Heart Association TAVR is not without risks. Some
calls aortic stenosis “one of the most patients require pacemakers, Singer says,
common and most serious valve-disease and stroke is sometimes a complication.
problems,” citing statistics that show 75 “You have to weigh the benefits and risks
percent of patients “with severe aortic for each patient.”
stenosis succumb unless the aortic valve Singer is confident that within 10
is replaced.” to 15 years the technique’s use will
Dr. Raymond Singer, chief of expand to include moderate-risk patients,
cardiothoracic surgery at Lehigh Valley and 50 percent to 70 percent of valve
Hospital, says the usual treatment replacements will be done using TAVR
approach is open-heart surgery. instead of open-heart surgery. The
Singer says it’s “the gold standard … procedure’s costs will come down, too,
it’s a time-tested, proven operation.” he predicts, and technology will improve.
That approach, however, doesn’t “We’re going to see patients
work for patients who are considered requesting it,” Singer says. “I think,
high-risk — older adults, patients with historically, a lot of cardiologists have been
severe medical conditions or patients reluctant to send [higher-risk patients] for
who have had cardiac bypass surgery. surgery. Now, more people are aware, so
That, Singer says, is where they’re making the call.”
a new procedure called TAVR
— transcatheter aortic valve The Medtronic CoreValve
replacement — comes into play. is likely to be approved
In a nutshell, it involves placing a new for use in the United
valve in the heart via a catheter — a States within the next few
tube inserted either through an artery years, says Singer.
in the leg, known as a transfemoral
approach, or through an incision in the Photo courtesy of Medtronic The Edwards Lifesciences SAPIEN percutaneous
chest, called a transapical approach. valve was the first transcatheter valve approved
It’s minimally invasive, and it reduces for use in the U.S.
recovery time dramatically. Photo courtesy of Edward Lifesciences
January § February 2015 INSPIRE HEALTH 19
SURGERY
Of all the muscles in your A GODSEND
body, the heart is the FOR THOSE To illustrate TAVR’s benefits, Singer
most important. It beats cites the example of a 90-year-old who
about 100,000 times a day, or about 35 AT RISK had the procedure done last year.
million times in a year. The man’s age and a disorder that can
That’s a serious workout. By: Patrick O’Donnell, Editor cause severe bleeding meant he wasn’t
Yet, as we age, the heart faces an open-heart candidate. Instead, Singer’s
more challenges. Photo courtesy LehighValley Health Network team opted for TAVR — and the patient
One of those is a condition called Dr. Raymond Singer, chief of cardiothoracic went home in four days.
aortic stenosis, in which the aortic valve surgery at Lehigh Valley Hospital. Today, the man is doing fine, and
narrows and restricts blood flow from is able to do the things he loves —
the heart to the body’s main artery. including golfing.
The American Heart Association TAVR is not without risks. Some
calls aortic stenosis “one of the most patients require pacemakers, Singer says,
common and most serious valve-disease and stroke is sometimes a complication.
problems,” citing statistics that show 75 “You have to weigh the benefits and risks
percent of patients “with severe aortic for each patient.”
stenosis succumb unless the aortic valve Singer is confident that within 10
is replaced.” to 15 years the technique’s use will
Dr. Raymond Singer, chief of expand to include moderate-risk patients,
cardiothoracic surgery at Lehigh Valley and 50 percent to 70 percent of valve
Hospital, says the usual treatment replacements will be done using TAVR
approach is open-heart surgery. instead of open-heart surgery. The
Singer says it’s “the gold standard … procedure’s costs will come down, too,
it’s a time-tested, proven operation.” he predicts, and technology will improve.
That approach, however, doesn’t “We’re going to see patients
work for patients who are considered requesting it,” Singer says. “I think,
high-risk — older adults, patients with historically, a lot of cardiologists have been
severe medical conditions or patients reluctant to send [higher-risk patients] for
who have had cardiac bypass surgery. surgery. Now, more people are aware, so
That, Singer says, is where they’re making the call.”
a new procedure called TAVR
— transcatheter aortic valve The Medtronic CoreValve
replacement — comes into play. is likely to be approved
In a nutshell, it involves placing a new for use in the United
valve in the heart via a catheter — a States within the next few
tube inserted either through an artery years, says Singer.
in the leg, known as a transfemoral
approach, or through an incision in the Photo courtesy of Medtronic The Edwards Lifesciences SAPIEN percutaneous
chest, called a transapical approach. valve was the first transcatheter valve approved
It’s minimally invasive, and it reduces for use in the U.S.
recovery time dramatically. Photo courtesy of Edward Lifesciences
January § February 2015 INSPIRE HEALTH 19
