St. Petersburg hospital completes its first TAVR surgery

Northside Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., has performed its first transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure on an 85-year-old patient.

WFLA reported Charles Frame had the minimally invasive procedure done in March after being diagnosed with aortic stenosis, and was considered too high-risk for traditional open heart surgery.

“It is groundbreaking in the fact that we have opened up options for patients who are at very high risk for surgery, patients that we would traditionally turn down. If you turn them down, it is essentially a death sentence,” said Northside Hospital cardiologist Peter Wassmer MD.

Northside Hospital is the first in St. Petersburg to offer TAVR, and constructed a new 1,300-square-foot operating room to perform the procedure.

Frame gave positive reviews for the procedure to WFLA.

“Oh my gosh, it’s been a complete 180 from what it was! I can breathe, I can walk. It’s like a dollar over a dime,” Frame said.

Research released in April by Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania concluded TAVR is the better choice for patients with acute stenosis like Frame, citing data which “shows that patients who underwent TAVR instead of surgery have better one-year outcomes based on mortality and stroke.”