Memorial Hermann Health System has expanded its minimally invasive cardiovascular care services by bringing the transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure to west Houston and The Woodlands. Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center began offering the procedure in July, while Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center began offering the procedure in May.
TAVR is a catheter-based procedure treating aortic stenosis, a narrowing of the aortic valve, the main heart valve supplying blood to the body. The procedure is currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for those who are at intermediate or high-risk for open heart surgery.
The procedure corrects a severe heart valve problem using a catheter inserted through a small incision in the groin. Most patients go home the day following the procedure.
“Transcatheter aortic valve replacement is the biggest technology breakthrough in our field in the last 15 years. Most of our patients are going home the next day. We are thrilled to now offer this as a treatment option at our Memorial City campus,” said Daniel Hermann, MD, an interventional/structural cardiologist and experienced TAVR operator with Memorial Hermann Medical Group Memorial City Cardiology.
Several physicians affiliated with Memorial Hermann have extensive experience with TAVR. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center began offering the procedure in 2011 as part of early clinical trials and continues to host TAVR-related clinical trials studying its applicability to other patient populations.
“Cumulatively, we have nearly 2,500 TAVR cases under our belt and regularly perform complex minimally invasive valve surgery,” said Tom Nguyen, MD, Director of Cardiovascular Surgery at Memorial Hermann Memorial City and Director of Minimally Invasive Valve surgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. “I believe Memorial Hermann Memorial City is poised to become a center point for the treatment of structural heart disease in Houston.”
Memorial Hermann also offers the TAVR procedure at Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital.
Patients interested in learning if they are a candidate for TAVR should speak with their cardiologist or click here.