The aortic valve is the gate-keeper for blood to circulate from the heart to all parts of the body.
Narrowing of the aortic valve is aortic stenosis. This is a condition that can be congenital or develop over time as a person ages. Most commonly, as people age, this valve is susceptible to calcification leading to its narrowing.
Eventually as time goes by, symptoms of aortic stenosis such as chest discomfort, shortness of breath, exercise intolerance, heart failure, fainting spells, and even death can occur.
The treatment for aortic stenosis has traditionally been open-heart surgery for aortic valve replacement. However, in the past, many of the elderly patients in need of aortic valve replacement surgery were not considered surgical candidates. As a result, elderly patients were subjected to live with their debilitating condition and experience a decreased quality of life.
Recently, however, a new technique called Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement or TAVR has been developed. TAVR device technology now allows elderly patients with aortic stenosis to receive replacement of their diseased valve without having to undergo higher-risk, open heart surgery.
At the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory of Mount Sinai Heart at The Mount Sinai Hospital, Annapoorna Kini, MD, Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and I have been at the forefront of providing this innovative treatment to patients traditionally deemed inoperable due to their age or other medical conditions.
We are proud of our TAVR patient outcomes and are also involved in national clinical trials to determine which other patient populations could possibly benefit from this pioneering and exciting, minimally invasive treatment.
There is no greater comfort to a patient and their family than the option for the least invasive solution to their heart condition and the most rapid restoration to increased quality of their daily lives. I am honored to in the field of interventional cardiology and on the forefront of advances in care to offer the latest, novel and evidence-based therapies to our patients at Mount Sinai Heart.
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Dr. Samin K. Sharma is Director of Clinical & Interventional Cardiology at The Mount Sinai Hospital and President of the Mount Sinai Heart Network. He also serves as Dean of International Clinical Affiliations and the Zena & Michael A. Wiener Professor of Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.