About Dallas Valve Institute

The Dallas Valve Institute provides a state-of-the art, comprehensive evaluation and treatment approach to patients with valvular heart disease, including the aortic, mitral, tricuspid and pulmonic valves. This multidisciplinary team is comprised of interventional cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, advanced practice providers and cardiac imaging specialists, who offer a variety of minimally invasive structural heart procedures including TAVR and MitraClip.

Each year, more than 200,000 Americans suffer from severe aortic stenosis. Nearly half of those patients are considered high-risk, which means conventional open-heart valve surgery is not a treatment option.

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Introducing a new, life-saving procedure

The Dallas Valve Institute (DVI) at Medical City Heart Hospital was one of the first facilities in the country to perform the transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure – a new minimally invasive treatment for severe aortic stenosis.

Since pioneering the treatment as part of a research trial in 2006, the DVI team has screened more than (need updated numbers) aortic stenosis patients and performed more TAVR procedures than any other facility in the southwestern United States.

Unlike traditional open-heart surgery, the TAVR procedure:

  • Is a closed-chest treatment
  • Takes place while the patient’s heart is still beating
  • Eliminates the need for the heart-lung machine
  • Opens a new window for patients not previously considered candidates for valve surgery

Patient Story: Marti Bowen

Conditions treated:

Aortic stenosis is a build-up of calcium deposits on the valve, which causes it to narrow and reduce blood flow to the rest of your body.

Symptoms:
  • Shortness of breath
  • Fatigue
  • Difficulty walking short distances
  • Lightheadedness, dizziness, and fainting
  • Swollen ankles and feet
  • Rapid heartbeat
  • Chest pain
  • No longer taking part in physical activities you used to enjoy

There may be no outward symptoms. These could also be symptoms of heart failure. If you have any of these symptoms and have been diagnosed with heart, ask your doctor to also test for aortic stenosis.

Risk Factors associated with aortic disease include:
  • Increasing in age
  • High blood pressure
  • High cholesterol
  • Smoking
  • Deformed aortic valve
  • Family history

Aortic regurgitation, also known as aortic insufficiency: the aortic valve doesn’t close properly, causing blood to leak backward from the aorta in the left ventricle.

  • Mitral valve prolapse: a condition in which the two flaps of the mitral valve improperly close
  • Mitral valve stenosis: a narrowing of the mitral valve opening which obstructs blood flow from the left atrium to the left ventricle
  • Mitral valve regurgitation: a condition when the mitral valve fails to close completely and blood leaks backward inside your heart
Symptoms:

In some cases, you may have mitral regurgitation but not experience any symptoms. In other cases, you may experience mitral regurgitation symptoms such as:

  • Fatigue or inability to exercise
  • Decrease in appetite
  • Dry, hacking cough (often worse when lying down)
  • Shortness of breath
  • Fainting
  • Accumulation of fluid in feet, ankles, and lungs (Edema)
Treatment:

The goal of mitral regurgitation treatment is to improve your heart’s function while minimizing your symptoms and avoiding future complications.

Tricuspid valve regurgitation: a condition in which the tricuspid valve does not close properly causing blood to leak backward.

To learn more about the Dallas Valve Institute, please call (972) 940-9510.

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