Westchester Medical Center Performs More than 500 Minimally Invasive Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Procedures

VALHALLA, NY - (January 3, 2019) – The Heart and Vascular Institute at Westchester Medical Center, the flagship of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth), recently achieved a milestone of more than 500 transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures performed.

TAVR is a minimally invasive alternative to open heart surgery used to treat patients with severe aortic stenosis. Aortic stenosis is the narrowing of the heart's aortic valve which is the last valve in the heart before all the blood leaves the heart to go to the rest of the body. Severe aortic stenosis is a common and highly lethal medical problem for which, until recently, open heart surgery was the only treatment. Now, with TAVR, patients have a truly minimally invasive treatment option that requires a short hospital stay and minimal limitations on patient's activities as they recover.

"Westchester Medical Center's TAVR program offers a safe, minimally invasive alternative for patients," said Joshua Goldberg, MD, Surgical Director of the Transcatheter Heart Valve program. "We're proud of the milestone achieved by our multidisciplinary team and what it represents: excellent outcomes and an improved quality of life for our patients in and around the Hudson Valley."

Westchester Medical Center's TAVR program was the first in the Hudson Valley to provide this lifesaving procedure using only local anesthesia and is still the leading heart center in the region.

"Because of our team's expertise and vast experience in treating TAVR patients, we're able to get patients back to their normal lives quickly, sometimes even the day after their procedure," said Hasan Ahmad, MD, Medical Director of the Transcatheter Heart Valve program. "Safety is always our number one priority."

Westchester Medical Center is one of few hospitals nationwide that routinely perform TAVR under local anesthesia. The highly-trained TAVR team performs procedures in the medical center's state-of-the-art hybrid operating room, a 1,000-square-foot suite that brings together the traditional, sterile, operating room with the advanced imaging capabilities of a modern cardiac catheterization laboratory. The hybrid operating room allows for precision during the procedure, while providing a comfortable environment for patients.

For more information about Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) at Westchester Medical Center, please contact the Valve Program Hotline at 914.830.1098 or email HeartValve@WMCHealth.org.