TAVI stands for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation. It’s a procedure that helps to improve a damaged aortic valve. During a TAVI procedure, an artificial valve made of natural animal heart tissue (usually from a cow or a pig) will be implanted into your heart.

How is the procedure carried forward?

Your doctor will perform the procedure at a hospital. Depending on your health, they will determine what type of anaesthesia is best for you. You may be fully asleep, or you may be awake but given medication to help you relax and block pain. Your heart will continue to beat during the procedure. This is quite different to open heart surgery, in which your heart will be stopped, and you will be placed on a machine that is used for your heart and lung

TAVI is different from open heart surgery in that it uses a less invasive approach to treat a diseased aortic valve. Your doctor will determine the best approach for replacing your valve, but the most common technique involves a small incision made in the leg. This is called the transfemoral approach.

TAVI has become the game changer for patient who are too ill for the open heart procedure. A handful of doctors are propery trained for procdure and Dr Viveka Kumar is one of them! He is a Senior Consultant Interventional Cardiologist and Director of the Cath Lab at Max Super Specialty Hospital in Saket, New Delhi. Dr Viveka holds specialisation in Angiography (Radial), Angioplasty (Radial), Multi vessel Angioplasty, TAVI, Leadless Pacemaker, and Subcutaneous ICD.

TAVI is a modern day miracle and is a proven procedure to increase the longevity of a patient.