Inoperable Severe Aortic Stenosis
Overview
If you have aortic stenosis, your aortic valve can’t open all the way, and not enough blood can flow through it. This causes your heart to work harder to pump enough blood through the body. This can lead to heart failure and other symptoms. In some cases, other medical issues are also present, making surgery more difficult.
Treatment Options
The best way to treat aortic stenosis is to replace your aortic valve; however, some patients with aortic stenosis cannot be treated with traditional surgery.
Hoag is the first and only center in Orange County to offer a new procedure for people who need aortic valve replacement but can’t have open-heart surgery; it’s called transcatheter aortic valve replacement. This surgery is unique because a team of doctors works together to replace your valve: cardiologists, interventional cardiologists, echocardiologists, cardiac anesthesiologists and cardiac surgeons. This procedure is performed in Hoag’s specially designed hybrid operating room. This room has the most advanced robotic imaging and communications technology to support this type of procedure.
During transcatheter aortic valve replacement, instead of opening up your chest, your doctors replace your aortic valve using a catheter. On the tip of this catheter is an artificial aortic valve that is collapsed, as well as a balloon that can be inflated and deflated. The catheter is inserted into an artery in your upper thigh, and your doctor threads it up to your heart. Your doctor then places the catheter within your own aortic valve. Next your doctor inflates the balloon on the catheter, which opens the artificial valve so it sits in place. He then deflates the balloon and removes it and the catheter from your body. This artificial valve starts working right away. And because this is a minimally invasive way to replace your aortic valve, it offers the following benefits: shorter recovery times, shorter hospital stays, less pain after surgery, and a smaller scar.