287
Even 10-20 years ago, a person had to undergo a major open-heart operation for aortic valve replacement. The doctor made a large incision on the chest, connected the artificial blood circulation device. After the installation of the artificial valve, it was necessary to undergo a long rehabilitation, and a large scar remained on the chest.
But now, in developed countries, most operations for isolated stenosis of the aortic valve are performed using a minimally invasive method. This treatment option is called TAVI. You can go to one of the foreign cardiac surgery centers to perform this intervention. The price of the TAVI operation in different clinics can be found on the Booking Health website.
What is TAVI
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an endovascular operation to insert an artificial valve into the initial part of the aorta.
The essence of the procedure is that the prosthesis is inserted through the blood vessels of the patient, and not through an incision on the chest. The doctor makes an incision in the leg and leads a catheter through the femoral artery to the heart. He delivers a balloon to the narrowed valve area and inflates it with liquid to widen the valve opening. Then an artificial valve is installed in it. At the same time, the removal of the native (own) valve is not required - the prosthesis is placed on top of it.
The artificial aortic valve is spread inside the vessel and pressed against its walls. Now it is securely fixed and will serve you for many years.
When conducting TAVI
TAVI is performed for aortic valve stenosis. This is an acquired heart disease in which the valve opening becomes too narrow. It becomes difficult for the heart to push blood through it, so the load on the left ventricle increases. As a result, its hypertrophy, dilatation (expansion) and heart failure gradually develop.
With some other heart defects, it is not necessary to do surgery right away: they do not progress or develop very slowly. But with aortic stenosis, correction is mandatory. This disease inevitably progresses. Changes in the heart can become irreversible. With the natural course of the disease, the two-year survival rate of patients after the onset of symptoms is 50%, and the five-year survival rate is only 15%.
Why is TAVI better than open surgery?
The TAVI operation is definitely better than an open operation, which is why it has become the main one in developed countries. For example, in Germany, two thirds of all valve replacement interventions for isolated aortic stenosis are performed in this way.
At first, doctors performed TAVI only at high surgical risk, when open heart surgery was contraindicated. This is due to the fact that there were no data on the long-term effectiveness of the procedure yet. But now we know that TAVI gives the same results as open surgery. At the same time, it ensures a low risk of complications, minimal patient mortality rates and does not require long rehabilitation.
Several reasons why TAVI should be done:
- The fatality rate of patients under 70 years old is no more than 3%, and in the best clinics in Europe it is only 1% (with open surgery it reaches 10%).
- The mortality rate of patients over 75 years of age with concomitant diseases is between 4 and 8% (open operations are generally not performed on them because of the high surgical risk).
- There is no big injury.
- An artificial blood circulation device is not needed.
- Low risk is complicated.
- Minimal blood loss.
- It is not necessary to stay in the hospital for a long time.
- The minimum period of rehabilitation.
- There is no big scar on the chest.
To make a transcatheter implantation of an aortic valve abroad, use the services of the company Booking Health. We will help you choose a suitable clinic abroad and organize your trip. On our portal, you can compare prices and book treatment at a good price. The cost of medical services for you will be lower due to the absence of coefficients for foreign patients.
