Cardiovascular hospital fulfills Yunnan’s first TAVR surgery

Yunnan Fuwai Cardiovascular Hospital performed its first transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) surgery in Kunming on January 13. The surgery, supported by cardiovascular experts with the Beijing-based Fuwai Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, lasted 80 minutes.

The 76-year-old patient, who suffered from frequent dizziness and palpitation, was sent to the Yunnan hospital January 12 and she was diagnosed with the“middle-severe insufficiency in aortic valve and heart”, an indication of surgery.

Also suffering serious coronary artery disease and peripheral vascular disease, the aged is a high-risk patient, said Wang Wei, director of the Structural Cardiology Center of the Beijing-based Fuwai Hospital. Wang added the TAVR surgery makes the best choice for treatment because an open-heart surgery represents higher risks under the condition.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) surgery is an emerging interventional approach to cure the aortic valve disease via minimally-invasive means. Up to now, more than 150,000 TAVR surgeries have been completed worldwide.

In China, TAVR surgeries are mostly performed in hospitals in Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, and the Kunming TAVR surgery marks a big step forward for Yunnan Province in curing the aortic valve disease.

Yunnan Fuwai Cardiovascular Hospital is jointly established by the People's Government of Yunnan Province and the Fuwai Hospital with Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and it was built by the standards of a cardiovascular department in China’s first-class hospitals.

Reporting by Guanxi Ruyi; translating by Wang Shixue