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Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI)

Table of Contents

Treatment Overview

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a procedure to implant a replacement aortic valve in the heart. It is also called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Your doctor will use a thin, flexible tube called a catheter to put in your new heart valve.

Your doctor will put the catheter into a blood vessel in your upper leg (groin) or chest. The doctor moves the catheter through the blood vessel and into your heart.

The replacement valve fits inside the catheter. The valve is made of tissue and metal. Your doctor will move the new valve into your damaged valve. It will expand and work in place of the old valve.

You may be asleep for the procedure, or you may get a sedative to help you relax. You won't feel pain when the catheter is put in the blood vessel.

You may stay in the hospital for up to a few days.

What To Expect

Why It Is Done

TAVI is done to treat narrowing (stenosis) of the aortic valve. This is the valve between your heart and the blood vessel (the aorta) that carries blood to your body. TAVI may also be done to place a new valve in an existing tissue replacement valve.

How Well It Works

This procedure can help people who have aortic stenosis feel better and live longer.

But how well this procedure works depends on several things, such as other health problems that a person has. These include other heart problems. Doctors are still learning who might benefit the most from TAVI.

Because TAVI is a newer treatment, doctors don't yet know the long-term benefits or risks. They also don't know how long the valves will last. But research shows that they work well for at least 5 years. 1, 2

Risks

TAVI doesn't involve open-heart surgery. But the procedure does have serious risks. Some risks last just a short time. Others are long-term.

Risks include:

References

Citations

  1. Kapadia SR, et al. (2015). 5-year outcomes of transcatheter aortic valve replacement compared with standard treatment for patients with inoperable aortic stenosis (PARTNER1): A randomised controlled trial. Lancet. Published online March 15, 2015. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60290-2. Accessed March 25, 2015.
  2. Makkar RR, et al. (2020). Five-year outcomes of transcatheter or surgical aortic-valve replacement. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(9): 799–809. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1910555. Accessed March 12, 2021.

Credits for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI)

Current as of: June 24, 2023

Author: Healthwise Staff (https://www.healthwise.org/specialpages/legal/abouthw/en)
Clinical Review Board (https://www.healthwise.org/specialpages/legal/abouthw/en)
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