The standard treatment for aortic stenosis (a narrowing of the aortic valve opening) has been valve replacement through open-heart surgery. In 2015, Eisenhower Health became the first and only hospital in the Coachella Valley to approach aortic stenosis with TAVR.
TAVR is a minimally invasive procedure that replaces a faulty valve without surgically opening the chest. With the TAVR approach, a team of interventional cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons delivers a collapsible replacement valve to the valve site through a catheter. Once in position, the new valve is expanded, pushing the old valve leaflets (the “flaps” that control blood flow) out of the way and creating a new valve orifice.
Since 2015, Eisenhower Health has performed more than 500 TAVR procedures and now, designated as an Edwards Benchmark program, the hospital will be a training site for other health care facilities across the globe.
“Eisenhower Health is a cardiovascular center of excellence,” says Scott Strech, RN, BSN, MBA, Chief Administrative Officer/Administrator, Cardiovascular Services, Eisenhower Health. “To have completed the Edwards Benchmark program underscores our commitment to providing the best cardiovascular care to our community. It takes a multidisciplinary team effort that embraces technology and works together to achieve the best outcomes for our patients.”
According to Edwards, the Benchmark program is designed to educate the multidisciplinary heart team and improve the patient clinical pathway which translates to shorter patient stays and reduced procedure times.
