Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement, usually shortened to TAVR or TAVI, is a way of replacing a narrowed aortic valve without opening the chest. Instead of a large surgical cut and a heart-lung machine, a new valve is folded onto the tip of a thin tube called a catheter, guided up to the heart through a blood vessel, most often the artery in the groin, and opened inside the old valve where it takes over the work straight away. Because the heart keeps beating throughout and there is no large wound to heal, recovery is usually quick and gentle. The approach was first developed for people considered too frail or too high-risk for open-heart surgery, and it has since become a trusted option for many patients with severe aortic stenosis. Many people travel abroad for TAVR to reach experienced structural-heart teams, modern imaging and shorter waiting times.