Beebe Healthcare’s Structural Heart Team reaches a clinical milestone for a minimally invasive heart procedure as an alternative to open heart surgery.
The team recently completed the 200th Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement procedure.
It is used for heart valve replacement and requires only a small incision instead of a large, open incision across the chest.
A thin catheter is then used to place a new aortic valve in the patient’s heart – capable of immediately regulating blood flow in and out of the heart.
Dr. Ehtasham Qureshi is a cardiologist at Beebe. He says the procedure is effective for people of all ages.
“Most of our patients are elderly and they cannot tolerate open heart surgery. It has excellent outcomes, and it has improved quality of life for the patients, increased longevity,” said Qureshi. “And the best part of it for me is that there is no age cut off. The oldest patient that we have put this valve in is 104 now, and she was 100 years old when we put that in."
In the last year, Beebe’s team had a 0% stroke rate post-procedure, according to Qureshi that is much lower than the national average of 5-7% stroke rate putting Beebe in the top 10% nationally.
Other risks outside of stroke include bleeding which is 5-10% nationally with Beebe at less than 3%. Another risk is the need for a pacemaker which is at 7-10% nationally, but less than 3% at Beebe.
He says there are other benefits from using this procedure.
"This procedure has dramatically cut down the length of hospital stay, and has remarkably cut down the recovery period. As an outpatient, even third day, fourth day they're back to their golf game," said Qureshi.
Qureshi adds the procedure was first used in the country around 2006 or 2007, and by 2020 it had become a standard procedure at Beebe.
