HJAR Jan/Feb 2021

54 JAN / FEB 2021 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS COLUMN CARDIOLOGY CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute Expands Noninvasive Alternatives to Open Heart Surgery with TRANSCAVAL TAVR THE CHI ST. VINCENT HEART INSTITUTE is changing the way patients with aortic valve stenosis are treated. A narrowing of the aortic valve caused by a buildup of cal- cium deposits, aortic valve stenosis, tradi- tionally required open heart surgery in order to replace the valve. In recent years, a new TAVR, or Transcather Aortic Valve Replace- ment, procedure was introduced for patients deemed too high risk for open heart surgery, but patients with suboptimal femoral access routes were still deemed ineligible for this minimally invasive alternative. That changed this past Fall when our team at the CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute became the first in Arkansas to successfully perform a Trans- caval TAVR heart procedure. TAVR procedures allow surgeons to re- place the aortic valve without the need for open heart surgery. Relying on larger vas- cular access routes in the leg, doctors use a