Vim & Vigor - Summer 2019 - CH - 51

CALL

Cutting-Edge Care
For more information on
the Structural Heart & Valve
Center, call 219-703-5301 or
visit COMHS.org/heart.

TAVR is a less invasive approach to
open-heart surgery that does not require
the patient to be placed on a bypass
machine to breathe. Instead, during
TAVR, a catheter is inserted either into
the chest or the groin area through a
small incision and threaded through an
artery to the heart to deliver the replacement valve. Once the new valve is set
in position and expanded, it pushes the
original valve leaflets out of the way and
the tissue in the replacement valve takes
over the job of regulating blood flow.

Minimally Invasive
Approach

In its first two years, the TAVR team
has performed nearly 170 procedures
at Community Hospital with more than
60 percent of patients returning home
the following day. The team, performing
an average of nearly two cases a week,
is growing and developing into one of
the most experienced TAVR teams in the
Chicago and Northwest Indiana area.
"Our team reviews TAVR candidates
during a weekly multidisciplinary conference to carefully consider each patient's
disease state and potential risks," adds
Abbas. "With input from each of the
team members-surgeons, cardiologists, anesthesiologists, nursing and
surgical staff-we determine if TAVR
is right for best possible outcomes of
our patients."
The TAVR team also includes
cardiothoracic and vascular surgeons
Cris Carlos, MD, Jason Frazier, MD,
and Vsevolod Tikhomirov, MD, as well
as interventional cardiologist
David Stewart, MD.

Trials Drive Innovation

"Patients can find not only expertise
and quality care at Community Hospital,
but a better overall experience, without having to travel away from home,"
says Lou Molina, chief executive officer
at Community Hospital. "Our continuing commitment to providing the most
advanced medical facilities and highly
talented medical staff have led the way
toward offering better medicine to the
residents of Northwest Indiana."
TAVR is considered an effective
option to improve quality of life for
many patients who are unable to tolerate a lengthy open-heart surgery and
recovery. The procedure is currently
approved for those with severe aortic
stenosis who are considered intermediate- or high-risk patients with other
medical conditions. However, trials are underway that may allow it to
become more available to moderaterisk patients who are in earlier stages
of their disease process. ■

"Traditional valve replacement
requires a complex open-heart
procedure with a 'sternotomy' that
surgically opens the chest during the
procedure," says Michael Eng, MD,
director of Cardiothoracic Surgery at
Community Healthcare System. "TAVR,
in contrast, is a minimally invasive
approach that leaves the chest intact.
This procedure offers an additional
option for patients requiring valve
replacement surgery."
The TAVR team at Community Hospital is
making a difference in the quality of life for
older adults in need of heart valve repairs like
Patricia Rotas, 79, of Schererville. Visiting
with Rotas after her TAVR procedure are
(left to right) Jamie Markulin, RN, Stephanie
Bandstra, RN, and Jill Conner, RN, director
of Neuroscience, Cerebrovascular and
Structural Heart Services.

SUMME R 2019

51
http://www.COMHS.org/heart
Vim & Vigor - Summer 2019 - CH

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