Successful Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation Performed on Elderly Patient with Critical Aortic Stenosis

A 80 year old gentleman was having a critical narrowing of the aortic valve which is situated at junction between heart and the largest blood vessel of the body (known as aorta) which resulted in severe obstruction of blood flow across the valve. This incapacitated the patient significantly and he had recurrent episodes of heart failure requiring multiple hospital admissions and chest discomfort on minimal exertion. His advanced age and multiple comorbidities including poor lung function made open heart valve surgery an extremely risky option. But daughters of the patient were determined to do whatever possible to give relief their father. Finally cardiac team under Dr. Tapobrata De decided to get a trancatheter aortic valve implantation done (TAVI) where valve replacement can be done through a puncture in the artery in right groin. This newer state-of-art procedure avoids open heart surgery and can be done under mild sedation, thus avoiding need of general anaesthetia and ventilator. The procedure was completed succesfully within 45 minutes and the aortic valve replaced without a single major cut in the body and patient recovery was almost immediate after the procedure. Patient can be discharged in ambulatory condition within 2 days after the procedure. This newer cardiac intervention ( TAVI) is a ray of hope for elderly patients having critical  disease in their heart valves in whom open heart surgeries are not possible due to advanced age and associated comorbidities.