Southeast Health celebrates this week with the 200 patients who have been given a chance at new life thanks to the Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR).

The 200th successful TAVR procedure was performed Thursday, March 3 by Peter M. Rao, MD, Cardiologist and Joseph E. Graham, MD, Cardiovascular Surgeon.

TAVR is a minimally invasive procedure that offers an option for patients who wouldn’t have been a candidate for traditional valve replacement surgery. This procedure is only offered in Dothan through the Southeast Health Medical Center’s Heart and Vascular Center.

We performed the first TAVR procedure in Dothan in December of 2017 as part of our commitment to bring this region an advanced structural heart program.

The TAVR is performed through a catheterization procedure instead of the traditional open heart surgery. An artificial aortic valve is inserted in the existing valve. It is used to replace an aortic valve that doesn’t open (aortic valve stenosis) with an artificial one. If the aortic valve, between the left lower heart chamber (left ventricle) and the body’s main artery (aorta), doesn’t open properly, blood flow is restricted.

An interventional cardiologist and a CV surgeon work together with a multidisciplinary team to perform a TAVR procedure. TAVR typically recommended for patients who have structural heart disease that results in aortic stenosis or narrowing of the aortic valve and are at high risk for traditional open heart surgery. Aortic stenosis reduces or blocks blood flow from your heart into the main artery making the heart work harder. This can be caused primarily by congenital heart defects, calcium build up or Rheumatic Fever.

The benefits of TAVR compared to open heart surgery are: shorter recovery time, less pain, reduced length of stay in the hospital, potential life-saving option for high risk patients and improved quality of life.

The TAVR team includes Cardiologists Dr. Rao and Andreas Muench, MD; Cardiovascular Surgeons Steven F. Johnson, MD and Dr. Graham. The valve clinic coordinator in the Structural Heart Program is T. Chris Gauldin, MMSc. PA-C.

For more information about the TAVR program, visit southeasthealth.org or call the Structural Heart Clinic at 334-944-4278 (HART). The TAVR program was made possible in part by more than $200,000 in generous donations to the Southeast Health Foundation. If you would like to donate to the TAVR and Structural Heart Clinic or for more information, contact the Foundation at 334-673-4150.