Kootenai | Kootenai Health | Issue 4, 2019
By Andrea Nagel For several years now, patients across the Inland Northwest have benefitted from TAVR, a relatively new procedure for patients in need of heart valve replacement surgery, performed at Kootenai Heart Clinics in Spokane, Washington. With the growing demand and success of the procedure, Kootenai Heart Clinics is now offering TAVR at their Coeur d’Alene location. “Initially, TAVR was reserved for patients at high risk for open-heart surgery,” said Eric Wallace, M.D., interventional cardiologist with Kootenai Heart Clinics. “However the last few years, the procedure has been studied in patients who are at lower risk, and it has provided equal outcomes in the short term. Thus, as a result of the recent Put your heart in good hands. Want to know more about Kootenai Heart Clinics or find a physician? Call (509) 847-2500 (Spokane office) or (208) 625-5250 (Coeur d’Alene office) or visit KH.org . HIGH-TECH CARECLOSER TOHOME TAVR procedure is now available at Kootenai Heart Clinics in Coeur d’Alene research, we are now able to offer the procedure to a larger number of patients who previously didn’t qualify. With this in mind, we felt the need to provide this and other more advanced procedures closer to our patients’ homes and families in Idaho.” Expanded availability TAVR, which stands for transcatheter aortic valve replacement, treats aortic stenosis—the narrowing and hardening of the aortic valve. When aortic stenosis gets too severe, the heart valve isn’t able to open and close properly. TAVR allows a new valve to be inserted via a catheter through the leg rather than through open-heart surgery. The new valve is inserted within the diseased valve, allowing it to function properly. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved this procedure for all patients with aortic stenosis, not just those at a higher risk of complications or who may have other severe health problems. Karl “Ted” Graupner, of Naples, was one of the first patients to undergo the procedure at Kootenai Heart Clinics in Coeur d’Alene. Due to a few key factors, he was an ideal candidate for TAVR. “I felt fatigued and experienced dizziness 8
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