West Hills, CA (March 2022) - West Hills Hospital and physicians from Cardiovascular Institute successfully performed its first TAVR case (transcatheter aortic valve replacement) this month. The procedure is a minimally invasive surgery for the heart. Specifically, in patients who have aortic stenosis, or a narrowing of the aortic valve, surgeons are now able to replace the aortic valve in the heart from the inside of the body, avoiding the need for open heart surgery.
“West Hills Hospital continues to advance its cardiac services offering patients a much faster recovery time to get back to living their lives to the fullest,” says Donald David, MD, Chief Medical Officer. “We are excited to offer our patients the most advanced cardiac treatments available.”
Severe aortic stenosis is a narrowing of the aortic valve opening that does not allow normal blood flow. According to the American Heart Association, aortic stenosis is one of the most common and serious valve disease problems affecting nearly 1.5 million people in the United States. Until the arrival of TAVR, past treatments included an open-heart surgical valve procedure, medications, and watching and waiting. A special catheter is threaded into a blood vessel through the groin and guided inside the heart. This procedure is much less invasive than open heart surgery and enables the implantation of a new heart valve without the need to open the chest. TAVR offers a number of benefits to the patients including faster recovery time and a shorter hospital stay.
The first case was performed by members of the West Hills Hospital Cardiac TAVR Team including the world-renowned physicians at Cardiovascular Institute, Gregory Fontana, MD and Aamir Shah, MD, FACS as well as an affiliated physician. Both physicians are on staff at West Hills Hospital and see patients at their satellite office located at 7320 Woodlake Ave., Suite 110. Both physicians are accepting new patients and can be scheduled by calling (818) 676-4032.