Surgery Today
Today several options for heart valve surgery are available. The traditional method requires a long incision to be made down the patient’s chest. It can be as twelve inches in length and require months of recuperation.
Beginning in 1996 heart valve surgery has expanded to include minimally invasive surgery to repair and replace heart valves. There are several ways this can be achieved, including accessing the heart through a small, angled incision in the center of the chest; making two to four small incisions in the chest for robotic surgery; or using transcatheter aortic valve replacement surgery (TAVR).
TAVR is an evolving technique for patients with limited treatment options. Through a small incision near the groin, an artificial valve is threaded up the femoral artery, a large artery in the leg, to the heart by way of a catheter.
Chitwood Knot Pusher
2016
This instrument allows surgeons to tie knots through a small incision, and it prevents sutures from slipping.
Gift of Scanlan International
Chitwood DeBakey Clamp
2016
Slender, longer, and more ergonomic than previous instruments, such tools enable surgeons to work in smaller spaces.
Gift of Scanlan International
Thoracoscopic Metzenbaum Scissors
2016
Metzenbaum scissors have longer handles than other scissors and are used for cutting delicate tissue, ideal for minimally invasive heart valve procedures.
Gift of Scanlan International
Sapien 3 Heart Valve
2016
This artificial valve has a cobalt chromium frame, a Polyethylene terephthalate skirt, and bovine (cow) tissue leaflets.
Gift of Edwards Lifesciences
Commander Delivery System
2016
This balloon catheter guides the artificial valve through the femoral artery, a large artery in the leg, up to the heart. When the valve is in place, a balloon expands the wire mesh frame.
Gift of Edwards Lifesciences
Anatomical Model of a Human Heart
2016
This cross-cut model of a heart shows an approximation of how a valve is inserted using the TAVR technique.
Gift of Edwards Lifesciences
