Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a catheter-based procedure that replaces a diseased aortic valve without open-heart surgery, offering effective treatment for severe aortic stenosis across the full spectrum of surgical risk — from patients too frail for surgery to young, low-risk individuals who prefer a less invasive approach. At SilverOak Health, TAVR is performed by our structural heart team — interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons working together — in a dedicated hybrid catheterisation laboratory equipped for both percutaneous and surgical procedures.

The most common access route is transfemoral — the replacement valve, crimped onto a catheter, is advanced through the femoral artery in the groin and positioned within the diseased native aortic valve under fluoroscopic and echocardiographic guidance, then deployed to displace the calcified native valve leaflets and restore competent forward flow. The entire procedure is performed under local anaesthesia and light sedation in most cases, with patients typically discharged within two to three days. Alternative access routes (transapical, direct aortic, subclavian) are available for patients with unsuitable femoral anatomy.

Our TAVR programme evaluates every potential candidate through a structured heart team meeting reviewing CT anatomical assessment, echocardiographic and haemodynamic data, surgical risk scores, frailty assessment, and patient preferences. This multidisciplinary decision-making process ensures that the most appropriate treatment — TAVR, surgical valve replacement, or balloon valvuloplasty as a bridge — is recommended for each individual. Our programme maintains meticulous outcome data including 30-day mortality, stroke, pacemaker implantation, and vascular complication rates, all consistently at or below national benchmarks.