Medical Milestone: Intermountain Clinicians Perform 2,021st Life-Saving Heart Valve Procedure; Milestone to Be Celebrated on Tuesday Morning with Patients

WHAT:

Doctors and caregivers at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray are joining with patients on Tuesday to celebrate a life-saving medical milestone: Intermountain clinicians have performed the 2,021st procedure of a transcatheter aortic valve replacement to replace aortic valves, one of the major heart valves in the heart, without open heart surgery.

The 2,021st patient will be recognized as Intermountain caregivers mark this important medical milestone for heart care in Utah. Intermountain has performed more of these procedures than any other center in the Intermountain West.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a minimally-invasive heart procedure that uses a catheter to replace narrowed aortic valves that fails to open properly. This occurs when the heart's aortic valve thickens and calcifies, preventing the valve from opening fully, which limits blood flow from the heart to the rest of the body.

This condition, known as aortic stenosis, can cause chest pain, fainting, fatigue, leg swelling, and shortness of breath. It may also lead to heart failure and sudden cardiac death in some patients.

Intermountain clinicians have been performing TAVR procedures since 2009, when they participated in a ground-breaking study to evaluate the method, which proved to be beneficial for heart patients.

WHEN:
10 am, MT, Tuesday, June 29, 2021

WHERE:
Intermountain Healthcare Transformation Center
5026 S. State Street, Murray, UT 84107

Note: Please park on State Street and meet us in the Intermountain Transformation Center lobby. As always, please remember to wear a face mask and social distance.

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