NewYork-Presbyterian Heart Health: Less invasive procedure for heart valve replacement with TAVR

NEW YORK -- NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital has been at the forefront of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and its development over the past decade.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement is a less invasive non-surgical procedure for patients at intermediate or greater risk for open-heart surgery. TAVR helps repair the aortic valve without removing the old, damaged valve.

Aortic valve damage occurs as a result of stenosis, a disease that causes the aortic valve to wear and tear, narrowing the opening and reducing blood flow to the body -- roughly 1 in 12 people over the age of 65 have some degree of aortic stenosis.

TAVR accounts for 32 percent of all aortic valve replacements. NewYork-Presbyterian has trained over 60 percent of all the physicians who can perform TAVR, and the hospital has performed over 4,000 TAVR procedures to date.