Dr A. B. Gopalamurugan explains one such procedure that has replaced the traditional open-heart surgery.
The Heart Valve Disease
This disease often afflicts the elderly. As people age, their heart valves shrink. One of the most important valves, the aortic valve also shrinks with age. The blood from the heart reaches the different body parts through this aortic valve. Hence, shrinkage of this valve is a cause for concern. Earlier there was only one method of treatment for this disease and that was valve replacement; other than that, there was no other option available. Therefore, for a really long time in the past, patients suffering from this disease had to undergo an open-heart surgery. After surgery, hospitalization of nearly 10 days followed by rehabilitation was the norm. A return to normal life took patients nearly 1 ½ - 2 months.
Trans-Catheter Aortic Valve Implantation or TAVI
For the past 15 years, aortic valve disease has been treated using TAVI without the patient having to undergo open-heart surgery. This is not the only benefit of TAVI. There is now evidence from world-over that suggests that TAVI is indeed the preferable procedure for high-risk and intermediate-risk patients. Thus, for elderly patients, patients with lung disease and for patients who have a problem with general anesthesia, performing valve replacement using TAVI would be the preferred choice. TAVI not only yields the same result as open-heart surgery but the quality of life too is better after surgery. The risk of the patient suffering a stroke lessens considerably with TAVI and the recovery period is as short as 2-3 days.
Kauvery Hospital performs the maximum number of TAVI procedures in India to non-invasively replace the aortic valve.
Watch Dr A.B. Gopalamurugan enumerate the benefits of TAVI here
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