Stanford Transcatheter Heart Valve Program
A new therapeutic catheter-based technology for the treatment of valvular heart disease
Stanford Transcatheter Heart Valve Program
Stanford has been performing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) for almost 4 years now and has treated nearly 200 patients as part of the PARTNER Trial using the Edwards balloon expandable SAPIEN valve. For the past several months, Stanford has also been performing TAVR on a commercial basis in patients with symptomatic critical aortic stenosis who are not candidates for open surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR).
Stanford not only offers transfemoral TAVR in these patients, but also the transapical (TA) and direct transaortic (TAO) approaches for patients with inadequate iliac access. Stanford also now performs "valve in valve" TAVR for patients with failing surgically placed bioprosthetic valves. This is a major clinical need because these patients with failing tissue valves constitute a high risk patient group.
An FDA panel recommended approval of SAPIEN TAVR in high risk, but operable (STS > 8%, PARTNER Cohort A) patients with critical aortic stenosis on June 13, 2012, and Stanford anticipates FDA release of SAPIEN for commercial TAVR use in this larger subset of patients in the Fall of 2012. As the only PARTNER Trial TAVR site in the Northern California region, Stanford also has the unique ability to perform TAVR in moderate-risk aortic stenosis patients as part of the PARTNER 2A Trial randomizing patients with an STS predicted 30-day mortality of only 4% or greater to TAVR using the new 18Fr and 19Fr transfemoral NovaFlex delivery systems and the SAPIEN XT transcatheter valve or to open surgical AVR.
For more information, please refer to the Stanford Transcatheter Heart Valve Program fact sheet and letter for referring physicians.
