Just released data from a clinical trial shows continued promise for a new minimally invasive treatment option for patients with severe aortic stenosis.  New research presented at the 2011 American College of Cardiology (ACC) Scientific Sessions from the first arm, Cohort A, of the Placement of Aortic Transcatheter Valves (PARTNER) Trial shows that transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is as good as traditional open heart surgery for high-risk, but operable patients. The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) is a participating site for the trial.

Speaking at the meeting as part of the panel presenting the data, Howard C. Herrmann, MD, director of the Interventional Cardiology and Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at Penn, said “The results are a win-win for patients. Surgery was better than expected and TAVI was even better at 30 days and as good as surgery at one year.  High risk patients with this common life threatening disease will likely soon have a less invasive alternative to open heart surgery. I anticipate that the results of TAVI will only get better with experience and further improvements in the technology.”

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