Abu Dhabi: Saudi surgeons at Prince Mohammad bin Nasser Hospital in Jazan has successfully replaced an aortic valve without open-heart surgery on a patient.
According to local media, the medical team in Saudi hospital successfully used the less-invasive technique, known as TAVR, on the patient who was suffering from severe aortic valve stenosis.
The patient has recovered and was discharged from the hospital.
About 12% of people ages 75 or older have this condition, known as aortic stenosis. Symptoms include feeling dizzy, faint, tired, and breathless. Unless the valve is replaced, half of people with symptoms from aortic stenosis die within two years.
Until recently, open-heart surgery was the only option for replacing the valve. But a treatment called transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, offers a less invasive alternative with an easier, shorter recovery.
Traditional valve replacement surgery involves having your chest cracked open and going on a heart-lung bypass machine, followed by a week or so in the hospital and a lengthy recovery. Doctors use an Anything higher than 8% is considered high risk. In that case, TAVR is an option.
