Ryan Master, MD,of Willis Knighton Pierremont Cardiology, and Syed A. Mehmood, MD, of Red River Cardiovascular Surgeons, have performed Willis Knighton Health’s 1,000th transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedure (TAVR). The procedure was performed in Willis Knighton Heart & Vascular Institute’s hybrid suite.

Once only an option for patients with severe aortic stenosis who were high risk for open heart surgery, TAVR is now becoming more common with the FDA expanding TAVR approval in 2019 to include all patients with severe aortic stenosis regardless of surgical risk. 

“TAVR has helped strengthen the working relationship of cardiologists and cardiac surgeons through not only doing these procedures together, but also assessing structural heart disease patients in a coordinated team approach. TAVR is truly a team endeavor, and I am thankful to be a part of an excellent team at Willis Knighton,” Dr. Master said.

TAVR was first performed at Willis Knighton in 2012. The minimally invasive procedure is performed under sedation while the heart remains pumping, eliminating the need for a heart-lung machine. An artificial heart valve is inserted using a small catheter through an incision in the groin. It replaces the patient’s aortic valve. 

Aortic stenosis is a narrowing of the aortic valve caused by calcium build up on the heart valve flaps, restricting the amount of blood flowing from the left ventricle to the aorta. It is one of the most common and most serious valve problems affecting five million people in the United States.

Willis Knighton is the only TAVR center in the area to have performed 1,000 TAVR procedures.