Heart Patients may Benefit from TAVR Procedure

Highlights:

• Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a minimally invasive procedure that repairs the damaged heart valves
• The new collapsible valve is placed in the place of the damaged heart valve using a catheter.
• Patients who underwent this surgery have experienced a significant increase in quality of their life.

TAVR- transcatheter aortic valve replacement is a minimally invasive surgery that repairs a damaged heart valve. Patients who undergo this surgery have experienced a significant increase in their quality of life, finds a study conducted at Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City. Scientists have found that the quality of life for individuals who underwent a TAVR showed a significant increase within 30 days after the surgery. The quality of life score for patients after the surgery was 72.9 on a 100-point scale (healthiest possible score), whereas it was only 42 before the procedure. Patients saw continuous improvement even after one year of the procedure.

The studies have shown that the individuals were able to complete their daily tasks easily and had a better quality of life after the procedure, hence confirming the results of the clinical trials.

"It’s remarkable that patients were able to improve their quality of life from 42 to 72.9. What’s most meaningful is that the improvement was sustained, which means the quality of life of our patients continued to be dramatically improved," said Jose Benuzillo, MA, MS, lead author of the study and outcomes analyst for the Cardiovascular Clinical Program at Intermountain Healthcare.

Researchers analyzed the self-reported health status of the patients at baseline, 30 days after the TAVR procedure, and one year after the TAVR, using the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire, which is a widely accepted survey that measures physical function, severity of symptoms, social limitations, self-care abilities, and quality of life of heart patients.

For the research, scientists examined the data at Intermountain Healthcare’s Enterprise Data Warehouse, to identify the individuals who underwent TAVR at Intermountain Medical Center between October 2013 to July 2017.

About 471 patients who underwent the procedure were analyzed at Intermountain Medical Center out of which 460 of them completed the baseline survey. It is very important to analyze these patients because it provides a comprehensive view of the care and outcomes associated with TAVR.

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In TAVR procedure, the doctors repair the damaged valve without removing the old valve, which is similar to placing a stent in an artery. The procedure delivers a fully collapsible replacement valve to the valve site through a catheter. Once the new valve gets expanded the old valve is pushed out of the way and the tissue in the replacement valve start to regulate the blood flow.

About Heart Valve Disease
Heart valve disease is caused when one or more valves of the heart are damaged, which affects the blood flow. Valvular stenosis and Valvular insufficiency are the two types of valve disease that are caused due to valve damage. The common symptoms of the disease are palpitation, shortness of breath, fatigue and rapid weight gain. The condition is usually diagnosed by ECG (Echocardiography), MRI and angiogram. These valve diseases are treated using medications or surgery using TAVR method.

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Source-Medindia