HEART
48
Treasure Coast Medical Report
RESTORING
AGELESS ZEST
Pioneering treatment saves lives,
one heartbeat at a time
MARTIN HEALTH SYSTEM
Dr. Stephen McIntyre, an interventional cardiologist, has been instrumental in developing the TAVR program at Martin Health System.
BY DONNA CRARY
When James Wigginton was diagnosed with severe
aortic stenosis, he discovered that he needed a
heart-valve replacement. Like many with this
condition, he had few medical options. He was
considered too high a risk to have traditional open-heart
surgery, since he was 90 years old. Without the surgery, there
was a good chance that he could develop advanced heart failure
within one year. Timing is everything and fortunately for
him, a revolutionary procedure for valve replacement called
TAVR, or transcatheter aortic valve replacement, was about
to be introduced on the Treasure Coast. Wigginton became
the first patient to have the surgery at Lawnwood Regional
Medical Center. It would not only save his life but open the
door to saving many others throughout the region.
TAVR is a minimally invasive surgery used to treat patients
with severe aortic stenosis who are considered intermediate
risk or high risk for traditional surgical aortic valve replacement
(SAVR). Severe aortic stenosis is a narrowing of the
valve controlling blood leaving the heart on its way to the
rest of the body. This narrowing reduces blood flow to vital >>