{span}Caregivers at UT Health Tyler recently celebrated the 250{/span}{sup}th{/sup}{span} transcatheter aortic valve replacement{/span}{span} procedure at the hospital.{/span}

UT Health Tyler recently reached a medical milestone as it completed its 250th transcatheter aortic valve replacement, a groundbreaking heart procedure.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, is an alternative to open-heart surgery and is used to treat patients with aortic valve stenosis who are at moderate to high-risk of complications from open heart surgery.

Dr. Thaddeus Tolleson, a board-certified cardiologist and chief of cardiology at UT Health Tyler, said this procedure is much less invasive than previous methods of heart valve replacement.

“Traditionally, heart valve replacement required open-heart surgery in which the chest is surgically opened with a large incision for the procedure,” Tolleson said. “With TAVR, you don’t need to have your chest opened. The TAVR procedure is done by inserting a catheter, or small tube, into the femoral artery at the groin, allowing doctors to deliver a replacement valve in much the same way that a cardiac stent is inserted to open blocked arteries in the heart. This procedure does not require stopping the heart or opening the chest cavity.”

Benefits for patients who undergo the procedure include less pain than traditional open-heart surgery, shorter recovery time, minimal blood loss compared to open valve repair and lower heart and breathing complications compared to traditional surgery.

Tolleson, who traveled overseas to learn the procedure six years ago, said UT Health is a pioneer in the area; performing Tyler’s first TAVR in late 2015.

“I went to Munich, Germany, in the summer of 2015 and worked with one of the pioneers of the procedure to learn it,” Tolleson said. “To date, we have performed more than 250 TAVRs.”

Those interested in the procedure should consult a cardiologist or visit UTHealthEastTexas.com/HeartCare for more information.