CMH Surgeons Complete 100th Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Surgery With Excellent Outcomes

The CMH Cardiac Cath Lab team celebrates their 100th Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) procedure, the most procedures completed in Western Ventura County. Featured are Drs. Omid Fatemi, Jennifer Wan and Lamar Bushnell.

Physicians at Community Memorial Hospital have completed 100 Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) surgeries and we are pleased to report that the patients have experienced shorter hospital stays than the national average.

“On behalf of the entire TAVR team, we are pleased to have reached this milestone,” said Dr. Omid Fatemi.

Dr. Fatemi, CMHS’s Medical Director of Cardiac Cath & Structural Heart Services, completed the 100th surgery on November 5th alongside Dr. Jennifer Wan, a cardiothoracic surgeon.

Physicians at CMH are proud to report they have performed more TAVR surgeries than those at any other hospital in Western Ventura County, with excellent results overall.

“Our patients have done exceptionally well,” Dr. Fatemi added. “In comparison to national averages, our patients have had shorter length of stays and less Intensive Care Unit time, usually staying only one night in the hospital. Also, in comparison to the national average, we have only needed a pacemaker in one percent of our cases, where the national average is 5-20 percent.”

When the Ocean Tower opened in late 2018, the new cardiac catheterization lab added TAVR surgery to the growing list of minimally invasive heart procedures offered to patients. The Ocean Tower cath lab has five procedure rooms and features start-of-the art imaging equipment with superior imaging quality and new, superior diagnostic and ultrasound equipment.

“Our patients have done exceptionally well,” Dr. Fatemi added. “In comparison to national averages, our patients have had shorter length of stays and less Intensive Care Unit time, usually staying only one night in the hospital. Also, in comparison to the national average, we have only needed a pacemaker in one percent of our cases, where the national average is 5-20 percent.”

When the Ocean Tower opened in late 2018, the new cardiac catheterization lab added TAVR surgery to the growing list of minimally invasive heart procedures offered to patients. The Ocean Tower cath lab has five procedure rooms and features start-of-the art imaging equipment with superior imaging quality and new, superior diagnostic and ultrasound equipment.

TAVR is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that repairs a narrowed heart valve without removing the old, damaged valve. Instead, an artificial valve is placed in the aortic valve through the femoral artery (the large artery in the groin) using a long catheter, with no large surgical incision in the chest. Once the new valve is expanded, the tissue in the replacement valve regulates blood flow from the heart to the body. Previously, heart valve replacement surgeries required riskier open-heart surgery in which the sternum is surgically separated.

TAVR is an FDA-approved procedure for people with aortic valve stenosis who are considered an intermediate or high-risk for open-heart valve replacement surgery. “The TAVR procedure has become more common and has reduced the need for open-heart surgeries in some instances, hastening patient recovery,” Dr. Fatemi said.

Click here to learn more about TAVR, which won FDA approval in 2011.