Experts at Manipal Hospitals Sarjapur discuss benefits of TAVI or TAVR procedure

The procedure is beneficial for critical heart valve-related conditions During a recently held press conference organised by Manipal Hospital Sarjapur, renowned cardiologist Dr Suraj Narasimhan A, Consultant - Interventional Cardiologist & Head of Structural Intervention, discussed three complex Aortic valve replacement procedures on elderly patients using this ground-breaking, minimally invasive technique TAVI/TAVR. Dr Saikat Kanjilal, Consultant - Interventional Cardiologist and Dr Joseph Xavier, Senior Consultant - Chief of Cardio Thoracic & Vascular Surgery, Manipal Hospital Sarjapur also took part in the discussion. Dr Narasimhan said, "Aortic valve stenosis is predominantly a disease affecting older patients, and a large proportion of them are deemed unfit for open surgery. Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation is a non-invasive procedure through which the diseased aortic valve of the patient is replaced with a new valve without the need for open-heart surgery. The procedure is carried out usually via a small incision in the artery supplying the leg, through which a wire is inserted into the diseased valve, and a new valve is loaded and implanted at the precise position over the diseased native valve. The newly implanted well-functioning valve replaces the older diseased and narrowed valve, resulting in improved blood flow throughout the body. When compared to open surgery, this procedure is safer, painless, and scarless, especially for older and sicker aortic valve disease patients."  Patients with Aortic Stenosis experience breathlessness, chest pain, fatigue, and dizziness. An irregular heart sound/palpitation is observed among these patients with clinical examination.