Prelims (GS - I) – General Science.
Mains (GS - III) – Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.
Why in News?
TAVI is a minimally invasive procedure for treating severe heart valve diseases in high-risk patients.
- Aortic Stenosis – It is a condition where the aortic valve narrows, obstructing blood flow from the heart to the aorta.
- As a result, the heart must work harder to pump blood, causing increased pressure within the heart chamber, which can lead to further complications.
- Aortic valve is a door that separates the heart from the aorta, the largest artery that carries blood to different organs of our body.
- As people age, the valve stops working properly. It becomes stiff and calcified (like a bony structure) that restricts its movements.
- Common causes - Degenerative aortic valve disease, bicuspid aortic valve disease and rheumatic heart disease.
- Prevalence - 0.4% in the general population and as high as 2.8% in people above the age of 75 years. It is also estimated that more than 10% of individual may have it after 80 years.
- Symptoms - Most of the patients remain asymptomatic till the disease becomes severe.
- Some symptoms include - Breathlessness, chest pain, syncope (passing out) and fatigue. Some of the individuals develop the weakness of the left side of the heart due to this disease.
- Diagnosis - Echocardiogram plays pivotal role in diagnosing the problem.
- Treatment -Until a few years ago, the treatment for this condition was surgical replacement of the valve through open-heart surgery.
- Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVI) – First done in 2002 by professor Alain Cribier, France.
- It is the first percutaneous valve replacement procedure, where a new valve is implanted into the old, diseased valve via the arteries.
- It is also known as Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVR).
- TAVI is superior to Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement (SAVR).
- TAVI is a minimally invasive procedure, and patients can often be discharged successfully within 2-3 days after the procedure.
- In younger patients, Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement (SAVR) remains the treatment of choice.
- However, in older patients, transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is done through the leg arteries for patients aged 65 or older or for those expected to have a life expectancy of less than 10 years.
- The ESC (European Society of Cardiology) recommends considering TAVI for patients older than 75.
Reference
The Hindu | Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVI)
