Members of St. Tammany Health System’s cardiology team recently celebrated the health system's 100th TAVR procedure since the first one was performed at STHS – and on the Northshore – on Oct. 2, 2019.
TAVR, which stands for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement, is a minimally invasive heart valve replacement surgery that doesn’t require the chest to be opened – which in most cases means a much quicker recovery time for the patient.
The procedure itself takes only an hour or two, and patient typically go home in one day, but from the hospital’s standpoint, that’s only one part of what is a much larger care program.
“This is a program, not a procedure,” explained Shannon Holley, STHS director of cardiovascular services. “TAVR is the procedure, but we have developed an entire program with a care coordinator and heart team that follow our patients leading into the TAVR, during the procedure to post-procedure recovery and follow-up. We are committed to delivering the safest, most innovative advances in cardiac care here at St. Tammany.”
Read more about St. Tammany Health System's TAVR program in our Winter 2020 issue of Heart to Heart magazine. Below, you can also find a video testimonial from Richard Hodgson, the health system's first TAVR patient.