Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute offers new TAVR procedure for patients with aortic stenosis

Jul 20 2012

People who are high-risk for heart valve surgery could have their damaged aortic valve replaced without traditional surgery with a new FDA-approved procedure performed at Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute at Baptist Hospital of Miami.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a promising treatment in which a team of highly skilled doctors use a minimally invasive approach. They gain access to the heart through a small catheter inserted in the skin to replace the diseased aortic heart valve while the heart is still beating, eliminating the need for the heart-lung machine.

"This is a valuable option for high-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis to improve their quality of life," said Ramon Quesada, M.D., the Institute's medical director of interventional cardiology and cardiac research.

The experienced multi-disciplinary team of doctors who perform the procedure at the Institute is comprised of Dr. Quesada and Jonathan Roberts, M.D., both interventional cardiologists, Niberto Moreno, M.D., heart surgeon and chief of Baptist Health's cardiothoracic surgery, Lisardo Garcia-Covarrubias, M.D., cardiothoracic surgeon, and Ralph Machado, M.D., cardiac anesthesiologist.

"Studies show that patients who received the artificial heart valve lived longer, had better heart function and felt better than those patients who did not receive a new valve but were treated medically," Dr. Moreno said.

Source: Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute