Latest Procedure: Heart to Heart
February is the perfect month for Eight, Arizona PBS to help educate viewers about a nonsurgical approach to aortic valve replacement via the second installment of its locally produced series, The Latest Procedure. The new program is scheduled for 9 p.m. Feb. 20 on Eight HD. The hour-long show marks the 30th anniversary of Eight’s landmark live telecast of open-heart surgery, the first-ever worldwide.
Eight’s newest production, “The Latest Procedure: Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement,” focuses on an innovative, nonsurgical approach to treating aortic valve stenosis – a narrowing of the aortic valve that hinders the heart from pumping blood to the upper and lower extremities. Currently, some 300,000 patients in the United States suffer from this heart condition.
Viewers accompany Dr. David Rizik into the operating room for an up-close, step-by-step tutorial of this catheter-based approach, also known as TAVR. The new valve is carried inside a catheter inserted into the artery in the patient’s thigh or groin through a small incision, then threaded by a wire through the patient’s vascular network to the heart. There, the valve is deployed in the passageway between the heart’s left ventricle and the aorta. Before the new valve is inserted, Dr. Rizik uses a balloon-catheter to crush the diseased valve to the side.
In the past, cardiac operations required saws, scalpels and surgical chest spreaders to allow the surgeon to see directly into the chest cavity. Today, cardiologists like Dr. Rizik use 3D imaging technology to visualize the heart chambers and blood vessels from the inside.
“During the procedure, the transcatheter heart valve is compressed into the end of a thin tube-like catheter,” Dr. Rizik explains. “The valve is made of cow tissue and polyester supported with a stainless-steel mesh frame. Once released from the catheter, the heart valve is expanded with a balloon and immediately becomes functional.
He added that with approximately 2 to 7 percent of individuals over the age of 65 afflicted with inoperable aortic stenosis, and an aging population, TAVR offers a very promising solution. Dr. Rizik is Medical Director of Scottsdale Healthcare at Shea and Thompson Peak and Director of Interventional Cardiology for Scottsdale Healthcare’s medical centers and hospitals.
Viewers also will see 3D images from inside the patient’s body needed to perform complex catheterization and surgical procedures. Zooming out, they will watch the surgeon’s play-by-play of the surgery.
