27/12/2019
TAVI (Transcatheter aortic valve implantation)
The aortic valve usually opens when blood is pumped from your heart to the rest of your body. Aortic stenosis is a condition where the aortic valve cannot open and close properly. This condition puts extra strain on your heart and can result in breathlessness, swollen ankles, chest pain, dizziness, and sometimes, blackouts.
For people with aortic valve problems, the usual treatment is open heart valve surgery. However, for people who are too ill or who have many other medical problems, open heart surgery may be considered too risky.
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a procedure that allows an aortic valve to be implanted using a long narrow tube called a catheter. Usually, the catheter is inserted into a large blood vessel in your groin or through a small incision in your chest.
Transcatheter aortic valves are specially designed for this procedure. The valve is made of natural tissue from the heart of either a cow or a pig. The natural tissue is re-engineered and attached to a flexible expanding mesh frame. In order to implant it into the heart, the valve is squeezed around or inside a catheter. The catheter is then inserted and guided to the aortic valve opening in your heart where it is implanted over your existing valve. Once the new valve is implanted, the catheter is removed. The new valve starts working right away.
