Open Heart Surgery Vs Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

Open Heart Surgery

Sometimes when the patient is suffering from severe aortic stenosis and is evaluated as “intermediate/serious risk” for surgery, he becomes eligible for a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) or conventional surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). To choose a procedure is the first step. As the techniques are presented as equally acceptable options, it is important to understand the aspects of both the techniques to opt for one technique. 

 It is important to understand the procedures with their corresponding factors involved in Open Heart Surgery and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement to develop the perspective.

Pain - Openheart surgery is more painful than TAVR. TAVR doesn't require stitches, and most of the patients have reviewed it by disclosing their experience: 'I had no pain’ is what most patients have said. As the older and weaker people don't have ability to bear pain, so TAVR is a miracle for them to get aortic stenosis treated.  

Hospital Stay - The duration of hospital stay in open heart surgery is dependent on what kind of surgery patient has. The length of stay after surgery vary from 3 days to 5 days. If the scale of complications is high then stay may extend to several weeks or longer. Whereas in TAVR the stay is for 3 to 5 days. Elderly and weaker patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) are at risk of hospital readmission postprocedure. 

Risks - Patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) are at risk of increased mortality due to Aortic regurgitation, potential damage from cerebral microemboli, increased need for pacemakers, and unknown durability of the valve. Risks of open heart surgery include having a heart attack, heart failure, or another cardiac issue depending on the number of arteries blocked. Blockage in more arteries also means that the surgery may take longer or become more complex. 

Hospitals and Surgeons for Open Heart Surgery in India and TAVR – Open heart Cardiac surgery (remaining procedures) - Dr Ajay Kaul BLK, Dr Meharwal Fortis Escorts, Dr Naresh Trehan Medanta, Dr Ganesh Mani Max smart hospital. Hospitals like MAX, Gleneagles Global, Fortis, Rockland, Columbia Asia, and PSRI in India are delivering high success rate with respect to SAVR and TAVR. 

A Few Facts about TAVR

1.    The first successful TAVR procedure was performed in France on April 16, 2002, by Alain Cribier, M.D., University Hospital Charles Nicolle in Rouen, France.

2.    Until now more than 45,000 patients have been implanted with Edwards’ transcatheter valves by multi-disciplinary heart teams worldwide.

3.    TAVR is an evolving procedure so risks and uncertainty follows.

4.    For inoperable patients TAVR is beacon of hope.

5.    The entire procedure of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) takes 1 to 2 hours.

It is very important to understand both TAVR and SAVR with respect to all the factors associated with them before undergoing any of the mentioned procedure. Patient has no way of knowing whether their surgeon has a percentage or 50 percentage mortality rate.