The TAVR revolution is aiding in repairing stiffened heart valves

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. (WPVI) -- The TAVR procedure has revolutionized a challenging task in heart care: fixing stiff valves.

And it has made the process much easier for patients, getting them back to an active life faster.

At 17, Bill D'Andrea of Plymouth Meeting had open heart surgery for the faulty aortic valve he was born with.

Instead of replacing it, the surgeon repaired it.

"It ended up being one of the luckiest things that ever happened to me because the repair lasted 40 years," Bill says.

Indeed, D'Andrea avoided daily blood thinners, and possibly two more replacements.

Interventional cardiologist Dr. David Fiss of Temple Health says that valve stiffening, or stenosis, was congenital for Bill, but it's more often due to aging.

"Patients will start to notice shortness of breath with activity, occasionally chest pain, lightheadedness, dizziness," says Dr. Fiss.

When tests showed D'Andrea's valve stiffening again, he had a new option - TAVR - short for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Dr. Fiss says the new valve is put into a catheter and threaded through a blood vessel - usually from the leg into the heart.

"We are putting our valve inside the patient's valve and opening it up. And so the native valve kind of gets pushed to the side," he says.

Aortic surgeon Dr. Suyog Mokashi says TAVR takes detailed advance planning.

"The majority of patients undergo a dedicated CAT scan," says Dr. Mokashi.

"We get very accurate measurements of where the valve will go. So we know exactly what size valve we would use," notes Dr. Fiss.

Around 95% of TAVR procedures at Temple are under sedation, not general anesthesia, and only require one night in the hospital.

There's been a big shift since TAVR came out 20 years ago.

It's no longer just for patients too sick for surgery.

"It's FDA approved, basically for all comers," says Dr. Mokashi.

"The results are immediate. And actually, it's pretty amazing to see the TAVR patients even the next day, to see how much better their breathing has gotten," he adds.

In fact, Mick Jagger was back to his famous moves six weeks after TAVR.

D'Andrea had a more modest adventure.

"Like 4 or 5 months later, I went to Italy with my kids on a long-awaited trip," says Bill.

And when a TAVR valve wears out, a new one can often go inside the previous valve, without open surgery. Up to three can be in together, according to current guidelines.