Heart-felt thanks as the San marks 1,000 TAVIs

The list of impressive cardiac milestones continues to grow at the Sydney Adventist Hospital, where the 1,000th TAVI procedure was recently performed.

The Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation, or TAVI, was first introduced to the hospital in 2015, as a less invasive option than open heart surgery, for repair of the aortic valve.

The aortic valve performs vital functions in relation to the direction of heart blood flow. If it becomes narrowed, blood flow can be impaired or restricted, causing patients to experience fatigue, chest pain or breathlessness. 

A TAVI involves inserting a new valve through an artery to reach the site of the old valve. The new valve is typically made of biological tissue shaped to mimic the natural valve and eventually, replaces it.  

A Central Coast great grandmother became the San’s 100th TAVI patient back in 2019, four years after its introduction. By 2023, more than 750 TAVI procedures had been performed, and last month, the hospital reached its 1,000th patient milestone. 

A heart-shaped cake seemed a fitting way to mark the occasion at a morning tea in the cardiac ward with CEO Brett Goods, Cardiologist Dr Jason Sharp and the cardiac team.    

“It’s an incredible achievement and it’s wonderful to think of that long list of patients who have been helped by having this minimally invasive procedure over the last decade,” Brett Goods said.  

“The milestone is also an opportunity to reflect on the work of our specialists who keep us at the forefront of cardiac care, and of course, we’re also very grateful to our surgical teams who support them and ensure our patients receive world-class healthcare at the San.” 

Here’s to many more successful outcomes.