Doylestown Health Marks Milestone With 1,000th Heart Valve Replacement

DOYLESTOWN, PA — Doylestown Health’s Heart and Vascular Services team marked a milestone recently, performing its 1,000th transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) at Doylestown Hospital.

TAVR is an advanced, less-invasive treatment option for patients with aortic stenosis. The aorta is the main artery carrying blood out of the heart. As people age, calcium deposits may narrow the valve and it may not open properly, obstructing blood flow from the heart to the aorta and the rest of the body. This condition, called aortic stenosis, generally affects older adults and may lead to heart failure.

Symptoms include chest pain, fatigue and shortness of breath, lightheadedness, fainting or difficulty when exercising. During the TAVR procedure, a collapsible heart valve is placed into the body via catheter through a femoral artery in the groin (transfemoral approach) or through the chest (transapical approach).

“The structural heart program at Doylestown Hospital continues to grow and its success is owed to the amazing team at work,” said Anthony Tran, MD, Doylestown Health’s Marvin and Dee Ann Woodall Endowed Chair in Cardiothoracic Surgery.

“Today, advancements in TAVR technology and techniques have expanded eligibility to a broader range of patients, including those at intermediate and low surgical risk. Regardless, all AVR patients are reviewed in a multi-disciplinary setting, to help guide the patient toward the best procedure as part of the lifetime management,” Dr. Tran notes.

“Our heart team is an exceptional example of multidisciplinary teamwork,” said Jennifer Harrar, DNP, CRNP-BC, Doylestown Health’s Structural Heart Coordinator. “Our success in reaching this milestone is shared, and due in no small part to our sincere commitment to collaboration, which we know results in better outcomes. I continue to be incredibly proud of our TAVR team and look forward to the continued success of the program.”

“The 1,000th TAVR, combined with an unparalleled commitment to patient safety and quality outcomes, solidifies Doylestown Health as an elite structural heart center,” said James Hansen, DO, FACC, FACP, Doylestown Health’s Medical Director, Structural Heart Disease, “We will continue to advance our capability of addressing complex structural heart disease within our community.”

Doylestown Hospital physicians were among the first in the region to perform the innovative procedure to replace diseased heart valves in patients without open-heart surgery when they completed their first transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in late 2013.

In July 2022, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) recognized Doylestown Hospital for its demonstrated expertise and commitment in treating patients receiving transcatheter valve repair and replacement procedures.

Doylestown Hospital was awarded Transcatheter Valve Certification in June 2022 based on evaluation of the staff’s ability to meet standards for multidisciplinary teams, formalized training, shared decision-making and registry performance.