Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital Performs First Procedure in Arizona Using Evolut FX+ TAVR System for Patients with Symptomatic Severe Aortic Stenosis

Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital treated its first patient using the Evolut™ FX+ transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) system, a minimally invasive alternative to open-heart surgical aortic valve replacement.

The hospital is the first in Arizona to offer this new TAVR system, which further refines the Evolut TAVR platform, designed to facilitate coronary access, for the treatment of symptomatic severe aortic stenosis. TAVR can be an effective option to improve quality of life in patients who otherwise have limited choices for repair of their aortic valve.

TAVR procedures enable the medical team to implant a replacement valve through a small incision, eliminating the need to surgically open a patient’s chest.

Aortic stenosis occurs when the aortic valve leaflets become stiff and thickened and have difficulty opening and closing, making the heart work harder to pump blood to the rest of the body. The disease can impact quality of life and limit one’s ability to participate in daily activities. If left untreated, 50% of patients with patients with severe aortic stenosis can die from heart failure in as little as two years.

The newest iteration of the Evolut TAVR system offers larger coronary access windows through a modified diamond-shaped frame design, which is four times larger than previous iterations of the Evolut TAVR system. The Evolut FX+ system provides increased space designed for catheter maneuverability to facilitate access to the coronary arteries of varying patient anatomies. Additionally, the new design maintains the valve performance, hemodynamics, and radial strength of the Evolut platform.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the Evolut FX+ TAVR system, providing physicians at Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital with another option to treat the growing patient population affected by symptomatic severe aortic stenosis.