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By Andrea Nagel
As our bodies age,
our muscles,
organs and other systems become
more prone to disease or failure.
Aortic stenosis, the narrowing and
hardening of the aortic valve, is one
of the more common and serious
heart problems many people
experience as they age. Although
surgical replacement of the valve
can treat the problem, it can also
be strenuous on those who are at
a higher risk of complications or
who may have other severe health
problems.
Luckily, just over three years ago
the U.S. Food and Drug Admin-
istration approved a new valve
replacement procedure that is
minimally invasive and available at
Kootenai Heart Clinics Northwest.
“The way aortic stenosis is
TAVR
most commonly treated involves
open-heart surgery,” said Stephen
Thew, M.D., Interventional Cardi-
ologist with Kootenai Heart Clinics
Northwest. “Because this disease
occurs mostly in older patients, we
needed a less invasive procedure
for this higher risk population. We
now have that with TAVR.”
TAVR (transcatheter aortic valve
replacement) allows a new valve
to be inserted through a catheter
rather than via open-heart surgery.
The new valve is inserted within
the diseased valve, allowing it to
function properly. The catheter is
typically inserted through the leg,
but it can also be inserted through
the arm or chest. These options
allow Dr. Thew and his team to de-
termine which entry point is safest
for the patient. The total procedure
typically lasts about an hour.
Dr. Thew said the recovery process
is easier, and most patients are able
to go home and resume their normal
daily activities just two or three days
after the procedure.
“Patients who undergo this proce-
dure aren’t limited in their activity
afterward,” he said. “We’ve even had
some patients say they felt comfortable
enough to go play a round of golf a
few days after surgery.”
Eric Wallace, D.O., recently joined
Kootenai Heart Clinics and is the
first physician in the region to have
gone through a formal training
program for structural heart disease,
including the placement of TAVRs.
“This procedure allows us to
help those that are too high-risk for
surgery,” he said.
The extensive preoperative screen-
ing and evaluation process involves
a number of different tests and
physician evaluations.
“Our patients have a team of
physicians working with them,”
Dr. Wallace said. “We meet as a
group to help develop the best treat-
ment strategy for each individual
patient, whether that means the
TAVR procedure or surgery.”
Dr. Thew and Dr. Wallace can see
TAVR patients for their preoperative
screening, testing and follow-up
visits in both the Spokane and
Coeur d’Alene locations.
C A R E F R O M T H E
H E A R T
Want to learn
more about Kootenai
Heart Clinics Northwest or find a
physician? Call their Coeur d’Alene
office at
(208) 625-5250
or visit
KH.org/hcnw.
M I N I M A L LY I N V A S I V E V A LV E
R E P L A C E M E N T H E L P S H I G H - R I S K PAT I E N T S
Kootenai
Heart Clinics
Northwest
offers the TAVR
(transcatheter
aortic valve
replacement)
procedure as
an alternative
to open-heart
surgery for valve
replacements.
Pictured from
left: Stephen
Thew, M.D., and
Eric Wallace,
D.O.
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