First TAVR conducted at Shifa

ISLAMABAD:

The cardiology team at the Shifa International Hospital has performed its first-ever Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) procedure to replace a degenerated aortic valve of an elderly patient. The procedure was performed by Consultant Interventional Cardiologist Dr Asaad Khan, who has previously performed some 500 Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) procedures in the United States. Earlier, this team had performed the hospital’s first-ever TAVI procedure in January 2020, on a patient suffering from a critical heart condition. The procedure has emerged as a breakthrough in the field of interventional cardiology and is now recognized as an alternative for selected high-risk patients for a valve replacement without having to conduct an open-heart surgery.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29^th, 2020.