Doctors at National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) yesterday said aortic stenosis is a common disease in elderly people, but there are risks of complications or death in implanting an artificial aortic valve through conventional heart surgery, while transcatheter aortic-valve implantation (TAVI) is an alternative approach with fewer risks.
NTUH cardiologist Kao Hsien-li (高憲立) said aortic stenosis is a common degenerative heart disease among elderly people and they might suffer difficulty breathing, dizziness or even faint when they exercise, while serious cases can result in angina pectoris, heart failure or sudden death.
Patients might only have about two more years to live after symptoms arise if they do not replace the aortic valve with an artificial one, but because many patients are elderly people and have chronic diseases, there are risks of death or complications from conventional heart surgery, Kao said.
A team of NTUH cardiologists, radiologists, anaesthetists and other physicians have trained abroad to perform TAVI operations since 2009 and have operated successfully on 101 elderly patients as of yesterday, the hospital said, adding that the average age of the patients was 82, with the oldest being 101 years old.
Instead of cutting a relatively big opening in the chest for heart surgery, the cut for TAVI is small — about 5mm long — in the groin, and the patient can be under local anesthesia, Kao said, adding that the surgery is less paniful and the patient can be discharged from hospital in about five days.
The death rate in the 30 days after a TAVI procedure at the hospital is currently zero, while the risks of complications from surgery are reduced, he added.
However, TAVI is not funded by the National Health Insurance program and costs about NT$1.3 million (US$40,146), but it poses fewer health risks, Kao said.
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