St. Francis-Emory Healthcare is pleased to announce that its first Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) procedure was performed on November 11, 2020. Interventional cardiologist Dr. Akram Ibrahim (first operator) performed the procedure with a team of physicians that included Emory cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Robert Guyton, Emory interventional cardiologist Dr. Chandan Devireddy, and Emory cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Jacob (Hakob) Davtyan. Dr. Davtyan is the medical director of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Program at St. Francis and a cardiothoracic surgeon at St. Francis Cardiothoracic Institute. St. Francis is the first hospital in the Chattahoochee Valley to provide this intervention to patients.

 

“As this community’s heart hospital for more than four decades, we are continually strengthening our cardiac program to provide high-quality care close to home. Congratulations to our team members who have worked tirelessly to launch this important service for our patients. We are very proud of their dedication to Making Communities Healthier,” says Melody Trimble, chief executive officer of St. Francis.

 

TAVR is one of several minimally invasive procedures treating heart valves that are offered as part of The Structural Heart & Valve Center at St. Francis. Other procedures include mitral valve repair, mitral valve replacement (MVR), tricuspid valve repair and tricuspid valve replacement (TVR), and surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). The Structural Heart & Valve Center is being led by a team of cardiothoracic surgeons and interventional cardiologists.

 

Also called Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI), TAVR is a less invasive procedure designed to replace a diseased aortic valve. This procedure is also an option for people at high risk for surgery who had their aortic valve replaced in the past but need a subsequent replacement. 

 

“We are pleased to expand our care offerings here at St. Francis so that our patients are able to stay close to home and avoid traveling outside of our area for the care they need. I want to thank our wonderful team of physicians, as well as our clinical teams who support our catheterization lab and operating room, for their hard work to make this possible,” says Dr. Akram Ibrahim.

 

Emory Healthcare and St. Francis have worked together in Columbus since 2003 when they began a cardiac services affiliation that aligned St. Francis’ electrophysiology program with Emory’s program. The heart/vascular relationship was strengthened in 2016 following LifePoint’s acquisition of St. Francis when Emory began to manage the hospital’s cardiothoracic surgery services. In 2017, St. Francis became a member of the Emory Healthcare Regional Affiliate Network, and in 2019, the local physician community in Columbus was offered participation in the Emory Healthcare Network, Emory’s clinically integrated network through St. Francis. Earlier this year, St. Francis became the first hospital owned by the newly formed joint venture between LifePoint Health and Emory Healthcare.

 

St. Francis is the region’s premier resource for the diagnosis and treatment of heart diseases, providing numerous cardiac services, including open heart surgery, cardiac catheterization, coronary artery bypass grafting, valve repair and replacement, aortic aneurysm repair, and electrophysiology services.