Abbott, the global healthcare company, today announced that it has launched its latest generation transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) system, Navitor, making the minimally invasive device available for people in India with severe aortic stenosis who are at high or extreme surgical risk.  

 With the Navitor valve, the company is advancing TAVI (also referred to as TAVR, or transcatheter aortic valve replacement) therapies with innovations including a unique design to prevent blood leaking around the valve, the company added.  

Aortic stenosis is one of the most common and life-threatening heart valve diseases. It restricts blood flow through the aortic heart valve to the rest of the body, which can lead to heart failure and, in certain cases, sudden cardiac death.  

 While many people don’t have noticeable symptoms, in India, one in 40 people aged 75 and older have severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis. For these people, open-heart surgery is considered a high-risk procedure due to the potential complications stemming from age, frailty or having multiple other diseases or conditions.  

 TAVI serves as a less invasive alternative to surgical aortic valve replacement and can reduce symptoms and improve the lives of patients with this debilitating condition. 

 Prior to TAVI, the standard of care for severe aortic stenosis was surgical aortic valve replacement, but not all patients were candidates for open-heart surgery.  

 Dr Praveen Chandra, Chairman - Interventional & Structural Heart Cardiology, Medanta, Gurgaon, said, “Aortic valve replacement can be a challenging procedure for people with complications such as age or comorbidities. For such people, a minimally invasive procedure is beneficial. This TAVI system offers important design advantages, helping us with accurate placement and easy access to the coronary arteries for any future interventions, if required. These attributes help with better patient outcomes, even across challenging anatomies.”