Heart & Vascular

Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center in Charlotte is among the first hospitals in the country approved to offer transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), a non-surgical treatment that inserts a wire mesh valve into the heart via an artery in the leg. Presbyterian Medical Center is also first in North Carolina and South Carolina to perform the commercially-approved procedure. Presbyterian offers two different approaches to TAVR - transfemorally, via a small incision in the groin, and transapically, via a small incision in the left lower chest.

TAVR is appropriate for people who have severe aortic stenosis, or narrowing of the heart valve restricting blood flow to the heart and cannot endure the traditional surgical approach of open-heart surgery. The procedure is performed while the heart is beating and eliminates the need for traditional open heart surgery. Hospital admissions are usually shorter for patients who have TAVR.