MDNews - Mid Hudson

EXPANSIVE FUTURE Dr. Jafar's near-term goal for the TAVR program at Vassar Brothers Medica l Center is to perform 40 to 50 cases per year. The caseload is sure to increase if, as expected, approved indications for TAVR broaden in the United States, as they have in Europe. "Initially, only the sickest of the sick were recommended for TAVR because we really did not have any outcomes data for it, the valves were in their first iterations and clinicians were not experienced at installing them," Dr. O'Dea says. " We are still waiting on long-term outcomes data, but as time has passed, the devices have improved — their profiles have got- ten steadily lower — and clinicians have become much more adept at performing TAVR. Studies have shown that patients who were not candidates for TAVR previ- ously because they were not sick enough do just as well with this procedure as they do with more invasive surgery. These investigations have expanded the TAVR patient population to the lower end of the high-risk category and the intermediate category. Eventually, studies will be per- formed on younger patients to see how they tolerate these devices and how long the replacements last before new ones are needed." In the meantime, Dr. O'Dea is pleased the availability of TAVR in the Mid Hudson Valley gives local clinicians a much-needed new option to consider for patients with critical aortic stenosis. "I think clinicians often do not refer these patients for cardiology or surgical consultations because they think they are too sick to have anything done," Dr. O'Dea says. "Studies have consistently shown that if these patients undergo TAVR, their quality of life improves, sometimes quite significantly. The procedure is technically dišcult, but it is less invasive than open- heart surgery and requires less recovery time. I would suggest any clinician who has an elderly patient with known or suspected critical aortic stenosis refer him or her to the Vassar Brothers Medical Center Valve Clinic for evaluation of his or her candidacy for TAVR." Learn more about Vassar Brothers Medi ca l Ce nte r h ear t an d va sc u l ar services at healthquest.org/heart/heart- health.aspx. ■ Cardiothoracic ICU nurses at Vassar Brothers Medical Center: Thomas Powell, Courtney Fennell, Carol Jorgenson, Thomas Mclnerney and Jennifer Osofsky PHOTO © PAUL MOORE, PAUL MOORE STUDIO The TAVR Team in the newly designed TAVR room at Vassar Brothers Medical Center PHOTO © PAUL MOORE, PAUL MOORE STUDIO 1 0❱❱❱❱❱ C O V E R F E A T U R E

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