Officials with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Santa Clarita held an event Tuesday introducing a less invasive alternative to open heart surgery to treat aortic stenosis.

The procedure now available at Henry Mayo in Santa Clarita, called a Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR), allows doctors to replace narrow aortic valves in the heart caused by aortic stenosis in a way that requires minimal surgery and gives patients a quicker recovery time.

“Over the last decade, the TAVR procedure has kind of revolutionized the way that we treat valvular heart disease,” said Dr. Abhishek Sinha, medical director of the structural heart program at Henry Mayo. “I think it’ll have the ability to transform cardiac care here in Henry Mayo Hospital for the patients and its community.”

With the TAVR procedure, an interventional cardiologist and cardiothoracic surgeon access the heart through blood vessels in either the chest or the groin.

Using wires and hollow tubes called catheters, the team guides a new valve across the opening of the diseased valve.

The new valve is expanded into place, pushes the diseased valve aside, and uses it to secure itself in place.

Because the physicians use blood vessels to access the heart, the surgery only requires a small incision, making it less invasive than open heart surgery.

At the Tuesday event, Henry Mayo patient Dick Sears said TAVR surgery had increased his quality of life.

“My recovery was quick,” Sears said when describing the day of his surgery. “Probably that afternoon I was ready to get out of bed, but they wouldn’t let me do that.”

After the surgery, Sears said he soon was able to walk better, was less winded and had more energy.

“I’m so grateful for the wonderful care I’ve received during this successful TAVR procedure,” Sears said. “To our Henry Mayo Newhall hospital: You are truly my healthcare providers.”

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