{"id":27904,"date":"2018-11-08T13:11:56","date_gmt":"2018-11-08T18:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/?p=27904"},"modified":"2025-06-07T18:29:39","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T23:29:39","slug":"tavr-aortic-calcium-debris-craig-smith-md","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2018\/11\/08\/tavr-aortic-calcium-debris-craig-smith-md\/","title":{"rendered":"“What Happens to Aortic Valve Debris During TAVR?” asks Shripad"},"content":{"rendered":"

I received a ton of GREAT questions for our recent Ask Adam Anything: Facebook LIVE Sessions<\/a> at the Heart Valve Summit. \u00a0 One of the questions that I didn’t have time to answer came in from Shripad who asked, “Hi Adam – In the transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedure (TAVR)<\/a>, what happens to the debris of the old diseased aortic valve which is crushed by the balloon catheter? If the debris cannot be removed, can tiny particles of the debris cause stroke or heart attack? Thanks!\u201d<\/p>\n

Before answering Shripad’s question, I thought it would be helpful to show how a TAVR is implanted. \u00a0As you can see in this video animation, a TAVR device is positioned inside a stenotic aortic valve and then expanded using a balloon. \u00a0During that expansion, the new aortic valve essentially “smushes” the old valve out of the way. \u00a0That is why Shripad’s question is so interesting. \u00a0 What happens to the defective leaflets and\/or calcium deposits that caused the aortic valve disease?<\/p>\n

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