Our Lady of the Lake Heart & Vascular Institute performed its 1,000th TAVR procedure and celebrated the occasion with a special event at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center.
Physicians, politicians, media, and dozens of other guests gathered in the HVI Lobby to mark the occasion. The millennium milestone emphasizes the sustained excellence and continuous innovation of the HVI team, which performed the region’s first Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) in 2013.
“I am extremely proud to be a part of one of the best cardiovascular teams in the South, one that endlessly strives to bring the best possible care to our patients,” said Denzil Moraes, MD, HVI chief medical officer at Our Lady of the Lake. “TAVR and other cutting-edge procedures available at Our Lady of the Lake provide hope to patients living with chronic heart and vascular conditions.”
The procedure has steadily grown in frequency over the years, with the HVI structural heart team now performing roughly 200 surgeries per year. The team consists of four cardiovascular surgeons and five interventional cardiologists: William Boedefeld, MD; Walter Bringaze, III, MD; Carl Rigby, MD; Terry Stelly, MD; Jorge Castellanos, MD; Federico De Puy, MD; Harold Helmke, MD; Steven Kelley, MD; and Venkat Suakanti, MD.
TAVR is an advanced, minimally invasive procedure that replaces a diseased aortic valve with a man-made valve without the need for open heart surgery. The surgery typically uses a transfemoral approach, which enters through the femoral artery in the groin and does not require a surgical incision in the chest.
Pictured at the event are, left to right, Denzil Moraes, MD; Steven Kelley, MD; Venkat Surakanti, MD; Terry Stelly, MD; Carl Rigby, MD; Trudy Worthington, RN; William Helmke, MD; Jorge Castellanos, MD; William Boedefeld, II, MD; Federico DePuy, MD.