In The News

TAVR Technology Can Keep Your Heart Beating Strong!

An 83 year old woman, was advised that she had only a few hours to live if she doesn’t get her valve replaced. She decided to opt for this unique, cutting-edge procedure that could grant her a fresh lease of life. Within a year of the procedure, she traveled to America to achieve her dream of addressing a large gathering at a prestigious conference. Now, at age of 90, she continues to live an active and normal life.

What threatened her life, and which procedure saved her?

Sarah* had a medical condition called severe Aortic Valve Stenosis (AS). The valve in her heart, which ensures normal blood-flow from the heart to the body, had narrowed with advancing age. This made it extremely difficult for her to carry out simple daily activities. She often felt out of breath. There was tightness in her chest, frequently accompanied by pain. She felt dizzy even with brief movements. In short, living had become a struggle.

Medication did not provide any significant relief. The other available treatment was an open heart surgery for valve replacement. But that was an extremely risky option due to her age, the complex nature of the surgery, the long hospital stay, and high chance of complications post-surgery, especially during the recovery period of 10-12 months.

An option of an innovative non-surgical procedure TAVR

Given these risks, surgical teams refused to perform a surgical valve replacement. At this point, Sarah was given an option of an innovative non-surgical procedure called Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR).The procedure entailed a small cut in the groin or chest area to pass a catheter tube to replace the diseased valve with a bioprosthetic valve.

There would be no need to cut open the chest cavity nor any need for general anesthesia as is usually required for surgery. The TAVR procedure would be performed over 30-40 minutes, and her recovery would be swift, requiring hospital stay of only 3 to 5 days.

Meril Life Sciences, a medical device manufacturer has recently launched an advanced bioprosthetic valve. The new valve has a unique ‘hybrid honeycomb’ design that allows doctors to precisely place the device at its natural position. This reduces the need for a new pacemaker, otherwise required in 10 to 30 percent of patients receiving other available valve technologies.

Myval-1 scientific study

Results of the Myval-1 scientific study , published in the Euro Intervention Journal, prove the benefits of this valve technology. There was high device success, low incidence of stroke, and low requirement of a permanent pacemaker implant post-procedure. Significant improvement in patient heart function and quality of life was also observed. After CE approval of this valve technology, hospitals in Europe have commenced using the valve due to these benefits.

We believe in improving the quality of human life through innovative and advanced healthcare solutions. So you can spend more time with your loved ones and people like her at the age of 90 also can live an active and normal life.There are many stories like the one you just read. We at Meril make sure to deliver our best products to offer our patients with the best of the medtech innovations manufactured in our very own nation.

Sharing such stories where Meril was able to change people’s life with their innovative product just bring us glory and boosts our confidence to keep working to manufacture even better products. We as nation need to support our Indian companies more, for they know the best and can deliver you the best products with cost-effective measures. Meril can proudly say, we are Indian at heart with Indian brains.

*Patient name edited to ensure privacy.
This article is intended for education and awareness purposes only, and does not seek to serve as a substitute for medical advice, nor to advocate a treatment or device in use for patients. Only qualified medical experts can provide advice regarding your individual treatment. Please consult your doctor for more details.