Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)

What is TAVR?

TAVR (transcatheter aortic valve replacement) is a minimally invasive procedure to treat severe aortic stenosis. It is also called a TAVI procedure.

Aortic stenosis is a condition in which the aortic valve gets narrower and restricts the flow of blood from the heart. This forces the heart to work harder to pump blood around the body and can eventually lead to heart failure.

How Does a TAVR Procedure Work?

TAVR works by replacing the diseased heart valve with an artificial valve that directs the flow of blood out of your heart, just like a natural valve would. This stops further damage to the heart and can help patients live longer.

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UR Medicine's Approach

If you’re experiencing symptoms, the UR Medicine Heart Valve Clinic can evaluate and review the risks and benefits of TAVR specific to you. We provide the most complete care in the Rochester metropolitan area and surrounding region for structural heart disease like aortic stenosis.

Your evaluation may include:

Discussion of your medical history and current medical status
Discussion of possible treatment options
Physical examination
Cardiac catheterization
Heart ultrasound (echocardiogram)
Pulmonary function test
Heart and major vessel cat scan
Blood work

TAVR is a serious procedure, so this evaluation could take several appointments. Your first appointment will last about two hours. Be sure to bring a list of your medications, your questions—and a friend or family member for support.

What Happens During a TAVR Procedure?

For this kind of valve replacement, we use either the Edwards Sapien valve or the Medtronic Evolut valve.

This minimally invasive procedure treats heart valve disease without the need for traditional open-heart surgery. TAVR uses cardiac catheterization techniques to replace a severely narrowed aortic valve. First, your doctor inserts a needle or makes a small incision about the size of your fingertip into a major blood vessel and inserts a catheter (a thin, flexible tube). The doctor uses the catheter to thread a new, expandable valve to your heart. The doctor then expands the new valve inside your original aortic valve, pushing the old one safely out of the way.

What Is the Recovery for a TAVR Procedure?

Compared with traditional open-heart heart surgery, TAVR carries a lower risk of bleeding, shortens recovery, and reduces hospital stay. Most people leave the hospital the day after their TAVR procedure.

What Sets Us Apart?

The UR Medicine Advanced Heart Valve Center was the first in the Rochester metropolitan area and surrounding region to perform TAVR. We are recognized by the American College of Cardiology with its Transcatheter Valve Certification. This was achieved through a rigorous evaluation of our program's ability to demonstrate:

Better care
Better prognoses
Better quality of life
Faster treatment

Our interdisciplinary team includes cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons, to tailor treatment to your needs, and a dedicated radiologist and cardiologist who specialize in reading echocardiograms. We have the widest range of treatment options for all forms of valve disease, and we offer the latest in diagnostic tools, including Cardiac MR, computed tomography, and echocardiography (transthoracic and transesophageal).

UR Medicine offers the Structural Heart Program, completely focused on treating structural and heart valve disease. We offer a multidisciplinary team of providers who specializes in percutaneous and surgical treatments. UR Medicine can also provide every other specialist you may need, including echo-cardiologists, radiologists, and specialists in heart failure, oncology, pulmonology and our congenital cardiac care.

UR Medicine offers the most minimally invasive options, meaning less pain and a quicker recovery. And as part of an academic medical center, we’re also involved in the latest research, so we can stay on the forefront of new developments and approaches.