Alegent Creighton Health Heart & Vascular Institute is the only hospital in Omaha providing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). This new treatment is for patients with severe aortic stenosis (narrowing of the heart valve) who, because of multiple co-morbidities, are not well enough for traditional open heart surgery. Up until now, the only treatment for severe aortic stenosis has been open heart aortic valve replacement surgery.
This less invasive procedure is done through a small incision in the groin using a catheter to transport the valve to the heart and then deploy without any incision in the chest wall. The TAVR procedure is designed to replace the patient's diseased valve while the heart continues to beat – eliminating the need for use of a heart-lung machine.
Benefits of TAVR
shorter procedure
no chest wall incision (sternotomy)
no heart lung machine
shorter hospital stay than open heart surgery
How can I find out if I'm eligible for TAVR?
While up to 1.5 million people in the U.S. suffer from aortic stenosis (AS), approximately 500,000 within this group of patients suffer from severe aortic stenosis. If you have severe aortic stenosis and are too sick for open heart surgery and if medicine is not improving your health, you may be eligible for TAVR. Our cardiologists will conduct a comprehensive evaluation to determine whether the procedure is an appropriate treatment option. Just call 402-398-5880 or contact us online to schedule your evaluation.
In certain cases, TAVR may not be an option because of co-existing medical conditions or disease processes that would prevent you from experiencing the expected benefits from the treatment or because the risks outweigh the benefits. For those who are candidates for TAVR, this treatment may provide relief from the often debilitating symptoms associated with severe aortic stenosis.
