Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)

Patients in need of a TAVR procedure have an aortic valve that is diseased or hardened by calcification that it no longer opens or closes the way it should and needs to be replaced with a man-made valve. In the past, the only way to replace this valve was through open-heart surgery. Today, we can often use a long, thin tube (catheter) to replace the valve. Learn more about this procedure by watching the following video.

Narrowed aortic valve — This drawing shows a narrowed heart valve. The valve lets less blood through, which means less blood is pumped out to the body.