NMMC Celebrates 500+ TAVR Patients
North Mississippi Medical Center recently celebrated more than 500 patients who have had transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) at the Tupelo hospital. The celebration was in honor of NMMC’s patients, physicians and staff who have made the milestone possible. Attending were Melvin Starnes of Sturgis, who became the 500th TAVR patient on May 3, as well as many other patients who had the TAVR procedure since it was launched in February 2012.
NMMC was the first hospital in Mississippi and the seventh nationwide to offer TAVR, an alternative for patients for whom heart surgery was not an option. TAVR has been a huge breakthrough for high-risk patients who suffer from aortic stenosis, a narrowing of the aortic valve opening that limits blood flow from the heart out to the rest of the body. Aortic stenosis has been compared to a kink in a water hose that has to be relieved in order to keep the water—or in this case, blood—flowing. Left untreated, a person’s heart could get larger until it has trouble pumping. Fluid could build up in the lungs, and the heart could begin to fail. The heartbeat could become erratic, and the person could suffer a heart attack and die.
TAVR allows a team of doctors to replace a diseased valve without open heart surgery and without stopping the heart. TAVR is done by a cardiologist and cardiothoracic surgeon together in NMMC’s hybrid operating room, which is a cross between a cardiac catheterization laboratory and a surgery suite.
TAVR can be performed three ways: through an incision in the patient’s leg, carotid artery or between ribs. Next, a balloon catheter is placed across the narrowed aortic valve and stretched open so the cardiothoracic surgeon can place the new heart valve. When the balloon is inflated, it pushes the new valve into position and the diseased valve to the side. The balloon catheter is then removed, and the new valve starts working immediately.
NMMC cardiothoracic surgeon David Talton, M.D., who performed the first case in 2012 as well as the 500th case, says TAVR technology has made great strides over the last decade. “The procedure is easier and safer now than it was 10 years ago,” Dr. Talton said. “Patients used to stay three days; now they go home the next day.”
“Open heart surgery is still the treatment of choice for valve replacement for younger patients,” he added, “but for older and high-risk patients, TAVR is an excellent option.”
For more information about TAVR and other procedures offered at NMMC, call 1-800-THE DESK (1-800-843-3375) or visit www.nmhs.net/heart-vascular.
