Baptist Health-Fort Smith now offers transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) for severe aortic stenosis patients as part of its growing structural cardiology program.

Dr. Hussam Hawamdeh, an interventional and structural cardiologist at Baptist Health, has performed the procedure at Baptist Health-Fort Smith over the last six months. He joined the system last year after completing fellowships in both interventional cardiology and structural cardiology at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.

In patients diagnosed with aortic stenosis (AS), sometimes the cause is due to the buildup of calcium on the aortic valve’s leaflets. Over time, the leaflets become stiff, which reduces the ability of the valve to fully open and close. When the leaflets don’t fully open, a person’s heart must work harder to push blood through the aortic valve to the rest of the body. Patients born with a heart defect can also suffer from AS later in life.

Symptoms of AS may include: Chest pain, fluttering heartbeat, trouble breathing, feeling dizzy, swollen ankles or feet, and difficulty sleeping or the need to sleep sitting up.

Approximately 2.5 million people in the US over the age of 75 suffer from this life-threatening disease.

The TAVR procedure is performed in the cardiac catheterization lab using one of many approaches, the most common being the transfemoral, through the upper leg, approach. This minimally invasive approach allows Dr. Hawamdeh to place a tissue valve into the heart through a sheath and avoids the patient going through an open heart surgery.

For more information, contact Mary Jill Otts, RN, at 479-4414097.