Wilkes-Barre General Hospital Now Offers Minimally Invasive Aortic Valve Replacement

6/23/2023

As part of the growing full-service cardiac program available at Commonwealth Health's Heart and Vascular Institute, physicians and staff from the Wilkes-Barre General Hospital's structural heart program recently performed their first transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure .

“This revolutionary procedure to replace a defective heart valve without open-heart surgery brings new hope for people with advanced heart disease,” said Dr. Sattar, who is the medical director for the structural heart program at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital. “TAVR is easier on the patient, typically done under minimal sedation, allows for quicker recovery, and it improves the patients’ quality of life as well as helping patients live longer.”

TAVR is a minimally invasive treatment option for patients with severe aortic stenosis (narrowing of the aortic valve opening) or those with a failing surgical aortic valve who are at elevated risk for complications during surgery. This exciting technology is a minimally invasive alternative to open-heart surgery.

Severe aortic stenosis occurs when the aortic valve leaflets become stiff and thickened and have difficulty opening and closing, making the heart work harder to pump blood to the rest of the body. Severe aortic stenosis often reduces a patient’s quality of life and limits their daily activities.

The structural heart team at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital is led by Adil Sattar, M.D., FACC, RPVI, interventional cardiologist, Robert Boova, M.D., cardiothoracic surgeon and Nishant Sethi, M.D., interventional cardiologist.

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