26/04/2026
La nueva cirugía cardiaca, explante de válvula trans catéter (TAVI) por la poca duración de estas en pacientes mal seleccionados.
Mayor riesgo ⚠️ que en una cirugía convencional.
A minimally invasive alternative to open heart surgery is gaining popularity—but some find their new valves don’t work as well or last as long as they hoped. 🔗 https://on.wsj.com/3OOpPFA
Leon Schiefer, then 55, learned after a 2019 physical that he had severe aortic stenosis. He didn’t feel sick, but was told he would need to get his valve replaced to keep working as a long-haul trucker.
A cardiologist and a cardiac surgeon near his home in Vassar, Mich., both recommended a transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, to Schiefer.
The recovery from open heart surgery would be long, particularly for Schiefer, who weighed about 350 pounds, the surgeon told him. Reluctant to miss months of work, he agreed. He had the TAVR on a Monday and was back driving Friday.
This past December, Schiefer began feeling short of breath and tight in his chest. Tests didn’t turn up any problems, but by January he was in such bad shape he had to stop trucking.
He later sought care further from home at University of Michigan Health, where doctors found his heart barely pumping, depriving his brain and other organs of oxygen.
They told him he had days to live.
Schiefer’s TAVR valve had become calcified and was leaking, leading Schiefer to heart failure, said Dr. Robert Hawkins, the cardiac surgeon who operated on him in February. He replaced it and fixed three blocked arteries.
Schiefer, who has lost 90 pounds since he had the TAVR, still has heart failure, but said he is improving. He feels he might have been better off if he had initially had surgery instead of the TAVR.
