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Get yours todaySEVERE AORTIC STENOSIS,
ISN'T HOW
I GO OUT
I GO OUT
RICK|REAL TAVR PATIENT AND CARDIAC SURGEON
Watch his story
Is medication an effective treatment?
Medication alone will not treat severe aortic stenosis, also known as heart valve failure. While your doctor may prescribe medication at first to control your symptoms, it will continue to get worse until you replace your aortic valve.
Take action with TAVRIF YOU ARE AT RISK, KNOWLEDGE IS KEY1
Heart valve failure may sound scary, but it's treatable, and you should know your options.
TAVR (transcatheter aortic valve replacement) and SAVR (surgical aortic valve replacement), also called open heart surgery, are both ways to replace your heart valve. They reduce your risk of death from heart valve failure and provide relief from your symptoms. They each have their own key differences.
TAVR is not open heart surgery
TAVR does not involve opening the chest. The average TAVR procedure takes about 1 hour. Open heart surgery, by comparison, lasts about 4 hours. Most TAVR patients return home the next day and have a short recovery time, getting them back to everyday activities quickly. TAVR may also be used for patients at high risk for surgery.*2-6
SAPIEN 3 TAVR is proven superior to surgery in low-risk patients at 1 year—and proven equally effective at 5 years.*3,7
On average, the TAVR procedure lasts about 1 hour, vs 4 hours with open heart surgery.2
*
The PARTNER 3 Trial, SAPIEN 3 TAVR proven superior to surgery on the primary endpoint of all-cause death, all stroke, and re-hospitalization (valve-related or procedure-related and including heart failure) at one year, and multiple pre-specified secondary endpoints in low risk patients.
PARTNER 3 Trial 5-Year Results in low-risk patients – Low rates of cardiovascular mortality through five years (5.5% SAPIEN 3 TAVR to 5.1% SAVR). Low rates of all-cause mortality through five years (10.1% SAPIEN 3 TAVR vs. 8.2% with SAVR). Low rates of disabling stroke through five years (2.9% SAPIEN 3 TAVR to 2.7% SAVR). Low rates of stroke through five years (5.8% SAPIEN 3 TAVR vs. 6.4% SAVR). Lower rates of rehospitalization with SAPIEN 3 TAVR through five years (13.7% vs. 17.4%).
Comparing TAVR and Open Heart Surgery
| TAVR | SAVR | |
|---|---|---|
| SHORT PROCEDURE TIME2 | ||
| SHORT RECOVERY TIME8 | ||
| SHORT HOSPITAL STAY3 | ||
| LESS PAINFUL PROCEDURE | ||
| RELIEF OF SYMPTOMS8 | ||
| IMPROVED LIFE EXPECTANCY1,9 | ||
| IMPROVED HEART FUNCTION9 |
The most serious risks of TAVR include death, stroke, serious damage to the arteries, or serious bleeding.
Ken shares his knowledge on TAVR vs SAVR
After having both open heart surgery and TAVR, Ken wants people to know about his experience.
Watch videoHere’s what to know about open heart surgery
- Typically, during open heart surgery, the surgeon will make an incision (cut) across the full length of your chest to access your valve10
- Sometimes open heart surgeries can be performed through smaller incisions (called minimal incision valve surgery)11
- Your old aortic valve will be taken out and replaced with a new one
- The new valve can be either a mechanical valve or a bioprosthetic valve6
- Talk to your doctor about questions you may have about open heart surgery and its associated risks
Start your Informed Decision Guide
This Informed Decision Guide is a shared decision-making tool endorsed by doctors and used in a clinical study of patients with heart valve failure.12 It was found to be easy to use and helped patients and doctors arrive at a treatment that reflected the patients’ values.
Begin here
Find a TAVR Hospital near you
Is TAVR right for you? A Heart Valve Team can help determine your treatment options.
Find one here
References:
1.Otto CM. Timing of aortic valve surgery. Heart. 2000;84(2):211-218.
2.Mack MJ, Leon MB, Thourani VH, et al. Transcatheter aortic-valve replacement with a balloon-expandable valve in low-risk patients [supplementary appendix]. N Engl J Med. 2019;380(18):1695-1705.
3.Mack MJ, Leon MB, Thourani VH, et al. Transcatheter aortic-valve replacement with a balloon-expandable valve in low-risk patients. N Engl J Med. 2019;380(18):1695-1705.
4.Rheude T, Pellegrini C, Landt M, et al. Multicenter comparison of transcatheter aortic valve implantation with the self-expanding ACURATE neo2 versus Evolut PRO transcatheter heart valves. Clin Res Cardiol. 2024;113(1):38-47.
5.Webb JG, Dvir D. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement for bioprosthetic aortic valve failure: the valve-in-valve procedure. Circulation. 2013;127(25):2542-2550.
6.Otto CM, Nishimura RA, Bonow RO, et al. 2020 ACC/AHA guideline for the management of patients with valvular heart disease: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines. Circulation. 2021;143(5):e72-e227.
7.Mack MJ, Leon MB, Thourani VH, et al. Transcatheter aortic-valve replacement in low-risk patients at five years. N Engl J Med. 2023;389(21):1949-1960.
8.Baron SJ, Magnuson EA, Lu M, et al. Health status after transcatheter versus surgical aortic valve replacement in low-risk patients with aortic stenosis. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2019;74(23):2833-2842.
9.Leon MB, Mack MJ, Hahn RT, et al. Outcomes 2 years after transcatheter aortic valve replacement in patients at low surgical risk. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2021;77(9):1149-1161.
10.Ramlawi B, Ramchandani M, Reardon MJ. Surgical approaches to aortic valve replacement and repair—insights and challenges. Interv Cardiol. 2014;9(1):32-36.
11.Brinkley DM, Gelfand EV. Valvular heart disease: classic teaching and emerging paradigms. Am J Med. 2013;126(12):1035-1042.
12.Coylewright M, Otero D, Lindman BR, et al. An interactive, online decision aid assessing patient goals and preferences for treatment of aortic stenosis to support physician-led shared decision-making: Early feasibility pilot study. PloS One. 2024;19(5):e0302378.
Patients and/or clinicians quoted on this website have received compensation from Edwards Lifesciences.