Cardiovascular Integrated Physicians (CVIP) provides the following heart valve treatments.
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a minimally invasive procedure which places an artificial aortic valve within a diseased, narrowed valve through a catheter (most commonly inserted through the femoral artery in the leg). A doctor guides the artificial valve to the heart, where a valve is positioned on the tip of the catheter that the is expanded, which presses the valve in place within the diseased valve. The new valve starts functioning immediately upon implantation. Also known as a transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), TAVR is a less invasive approach to aortic valve replacement compared to open-heart surgical valve replacement. After the procedure, a patient may stay one to two nights in the hospital.
MitraClip™
In cases of severe mitral valve regurgitation, patients may be a candidate for a minimally invasive transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVr) procedure called MitraClip™. Unlike with surgery, this procedure does not require opening the chest and stopping the heart temporarily. With MitraClip™, a catheter is inserted in the femoral vein in the groin to guide an implanted clip smaller than a dime to the mitral valve, to which the clip is attached. The clip improves the valve’s ability to close by grasping the tips of the leaflets (flaps) of the mitral valve to reduce regurgitation, or backflow blood leakage into the left atrium. The valve will continue to open and close on either side of the clip, allowing blood to flow through. Patients typically stay for one or two nights in the hospital after the procedure before going home.
