Jaipur: Doctors performed a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) at a city-based hospital which was the first procedure in North India to be performed with Indian TAVR technology. This first ever indigenously designed and manufactured transcatheter heart valve has recently been made commercially available.

A 72-year-old woman, Tulsi, from Goa, was diagnosed with aortic stenosis a few months back. She was having difficulties in walking, experienced shortness of breath and was unable to do even light physical activities. Her symptoms worsened and she became wheel-chair bound. Her family doctor detected that she was suffering from aortic stenosis and needed a valve replacement surgery. He referred her to Jaipur.

Dr Ravinder Singh Rao, Interventional Cardiologist and Director, TAVR Program at Eternal Hospital, said that her condition was acute and could not be treated with medications when she came to them. He added that open-heart surgery is the treatment for aortic stenosis but it is not recommended in high-risk patients, including the elderly. He further mentioned that with other health conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and peripheral vascular disease, open-heart surgery was not an option. Therefore, they decided to perform this procedure using the Indian technology.

Dr Rao told that the Indian TAVR technology is supported by abundant clinical data. Being one of the Principal Investigators of the clinical trials for this technology, he mentioned that it has led to improved patient outcomes. The technology is associated with zero new pacemaker implantation rates post procedure and faster recovery. He added that the valve is effective in relieving the patient’s symptoms and reducing death and hospitalization from aortic stenosis.