SYSTEM NEWS
Heart care
just got better
A revolutionary heart procedure
is now available in Round Rock
and College Station.
aylor Scott & White Medical
Centers in Round Rock and
College Station have launched
transcatheter aortic valve replacement
(TAVR) programs, joining four other Baylor
Scott & White hospitals, including Temple,
Dallas, Plano, and Fort Worth. Baylor Scott
& White is home to Texas’ largest TAVR
program, having performed more than
3,600 TAVRs, and is a top-five provider of
TAVR nationally.
Since 2012, doctors at Baylor Scott
& White – Round Rock have performed
a number of TAVR procedures. “This
new procedure reflects our team’s
multidisciplinary approach to care and
our commitment to provide quality heart
care,” says Angel Caldera, MD, medical
director, catheterization lab, Baylor
Scott & White – Round Rock. “We are
pleased to be able to bring this to our
patients living in Williamson County and
surrounding areas.”
TAVR is a promising alternative to
open-heart surgery for patients with
aortic stenosis—a condition in which
a narrowed aortic valve fails to open
properly, causing the heart to work
harder to pump blood. Over time, that
stress weakens the heart and can
cause a range of issues such as heart
failure, thickening of the heart muscle,
or blood in the lungs. Often unaware of
the condition for many years, patients
eventually experience symptoms of
chest pain, dizziness, heart palpitations,
extreme fatigue, or shortness of breath.
“TAVR can provide a better quality
of life for patients suffering from heart
valve disease,” says William Gray, MD,
medical director of the Structural
Heart Program at Baylor Scott & White
– College Station. “We are thrilled to
offer this procedure to our Brazos Valley
patients, so they can recover close to
home and be near loved ones during
their stay at the hospital.”
In this minimally-invasive procedure,
doctors replace the damaged heart
valve by threading a new one through
a blood vessel in the leg. The surgery
lasts less than one hour, and most
patients require only an overnight stay.
In contrast, open-heart surgery involves
splitting the breast bone and stopping
the heart to replace the valve. Patients
stay in the hospital for a week to 10 days
and require extensive rehabilitation.
“In 15 years of research,
we’ve gone from a disease
being treated by a severe
open surgical approach to
a primarily catheter-based
approach....That’s a pretty
momentous shift in a very
short period of time.”
— Dr. Michael Mack
Paving the Way
TAVR was first performed in humans
more than 15 years ago. Until recently,
it was reserved for very sick or elderly
patients—those unlikely to survive
traditional open-heart surgery. Baylor
Scott & White Research Institute is a lead
contributor in a national study to evaluate
TAVR and its lasting benefits for younger
or healthier patients.
“Low-risk and younger patients have
a longer life expectancy, so we need
to ensure that the valve is durable for
a longer period of time,” says Michael
Mack, MD, the national co-principal
investigator for the study, Baylor Scott &
White medical director of cardiovascular
surgery, and chairman of Baylor Scott &
White The Heart Hospital Plano Research
Center. “In addition to a shorter hospital
stay, less irregular heart rhythm, and less
bleeding, we found that TAVR patients
were significantly less likely to experience
stroke or re-hospitalization within one
year after this procedure.”
The Baylor Scott & White study will
continue to monitor its enrollee patients
for ten years, even though the Food and
Drug Administration approved TAVR as an
option for patients in all risk categories.
“In 15 years of research, we’ve gone
from a disease being treated by a severe
open surgical approach to a primarily
catheter-based approach that does not
require a surgical incision,” Dr. Mack says.
“That’s a pretty momentous shift in a very
short period of time.”
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THE COMPASS / BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE CENTRAL TEXAS FOUNDATION NEWS / SUMMER 2020