Hyderabad, 20th December, 2019: Hyderabad Valves – an association of Interventional Cardiologists, to bridge the knowledge gap on the latest advances in intricate cardiac interventions, and Apollo Hospitals, is hosting the two day 1st Hyderabad Valves Conference, on December 20th and 21st, 2019; at Hotel ITC Kakatiya. The Conference was formally inaugurated by the Chief Guest Dr. K. Hari Prasad, President – Hospitals Division, Apollo Hospitals Group; Prof. Alain Cribier, a world renowned pioneer in cardiac interventional procedures; and Prof. Helene Eltchaninoff, HOD, Cardiology, University DE Rouen. Also present on the occasion were Dr PC Rath and Dr Manoj Agarwala, Sr. Consultant Cardiologists, Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad. The first edition of the Conference is focused on the latest interventional procedures TAVI (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation) and TAVR (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement) for effectively treating patients diagnosed with Aortic Stenosis (AS).
The incidence of Cardiovascular diseases, especially among Indians is on the rise over the years. It is turning out to be the biggest cause of mortality in the country, accounting for nearly 25 percent of all mortalities in the age group of 25 to 69. Aortic Valve Disease or Aortic stenosis is one of the most prevalent valvular heart diseases and a significant contributor to the incidence.
The cause for the Aortic valve stenosis is the narrowing of heart’s aortic valve, resulting in reduced or blocking of blood flow from the heart into the main artery of the body – the aorta, thereby limiting blood supply to the body organs. This reduction of the blood flow creates an artificial trough in the blood supply, making the heart work harder to pump blood and bridge the demand from the body. Eventually, this extra work limits the amount of blood heart can pump and this can cause symptoms as well as possibly weaken the heart muscle. Aortic valve stenosis is particularly common in those over the age of 75. Because of the advanced age of these patients, minimally invasive TAVI, is the most appropriate procedure. TAVI is a catheter-based procedure that replaces a patient’s diseased native aortic valve with a bioprosthesis. Though TAVI is relatively new in India, it has become a routine procedure in the developed countries for inoperable and high-risk patients of aortic stenosis.
Owing to increasing life expectancy, we are likely to see more and more patients with aortic stenosis and other degenerative valve conditions over the years to come. All these patients will immensely benefit from the patient friendly and minimally risky TAVR. There are many FDA approved valves available for commercial use and many more are under development. However the major prohibitive factors against widespread application of TAVR in India seem to be the cost and the expertise. This Conference will address the lack of expertise among Indian Cardiologists by spreading the knowledge and help them to fine tune their proficiency and skills in these new techniques.
We at Apollo have been in the forefront of bringing latest technology and techniques to India. This is another initiative, aiming to familiarize the Indian Cardiologists with advanced techniques of TAVR. This in turn should immensely benefit the Indian patients in the years to come. There is no better authority than Prof. Alain Cribier himself, the father of the technique, to impart the finer skills of TAVR to our Cardiologists and make them master it, says Dr Hari Prasad.
The inventor and pioneers of TAVI, Prof. Alain Cribier and Prof. Helene Eltchaninoff of De Rouen University, France, are imparting the skills to the delegates at the TAVI workshop. Utilizing the facilities at Apollo Hospitals, Prof. Alain Cribier and Prof. Helene Eltchaninoff will perform six such TAVI procedures during these two days. The workshop is providing an opportunity to over 300 cardiologists from India and south East Asia to learn from the masters of TAVI.
Dr. Alain Cribier brought about several innovations in the sphere of Intervention Cardiology. He was the first to attempt balloon valvuloplasty way back in 1985 in an elderly patient with AS who was inoperable. The long term results however, were not satisfactory. This led to the invention of percutaneous aortic valve replacement by Dr. Cribier and it was first done in a human 17 years ago in 2002. Although it was a fallback option for high-risk patients, now there are over 7000 trials/registries based on TAVR clearly stating its mark as a viable option for managing aortic stenosis, especially in the elderly irrespective of their surgical risk. Over 500,000 TAVRs have been performed worldwide over the past 17 years.