Salir
Tookie Gentilcore (pictured above) was enjoying her life as a retiree. She loved playing pickleball, gardening, and spending time with friends.
But when she started feeling tired all the time, she knew something was wrong. Even small tasks were hard.
“Something was definitely wrong,” she said. “I could barely walk up the stairs.”
Gentilcore, a Kaiser Permanente member, called her doctor. After hearing her symptoms, he ordered an ultrasound test of her heart.
Gentilcore had aortic stenosis, which means the heart's most important valve, the aortic valve, was narrowing. This made her heart work harder to pump blood. She needed to have the valve replaced.
‘Cutting-edge technology’
“She came in really nervous, like, ‘I don’t have options here. What am I going to do?’” said Benjamin Galper, MD, interventional cardiologist at Kaiser Permanente. “As a team, we came together with a really excellent plan using cutting-edge technology.”
Their plan involved a new procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement.
Twenty years ago, Gentilcore would likely have needed open-heart surgery. During open-heart surgery, a surgeon cuts through the breastbone and spreads the rib cage to access the heart.
With transcatheter aortic valve replacement, an interventional cardiologist can replace a heart valve quickly and safely with a tiny cut in the leg artery.
During the procedure, the interventional cardiologist delivers the replacement valve through the patient’s leg with the help of X-ray cameras. Interventional cardiologists at Kaiser Permanente have become experts at the procedure, having performed it hundreds of times over the past decade.
Get better faster
Recovery times are quicker, too.
Most people who have a transcatheter aortic valve replacement stay in the hospital no more than 24 hours after the procedure. And, they can return to regular activities in about 1 to 2 weeks.
Open-heart surgery patients may need to stay in the hospital for a week. Recovery times can be 2 months.
Not long after the procedure, Gentilcore was back on the pickleball court.
“Thank you, Dr. Galper,” she said. “You have given me my life back.”
Learn more about heart health and cardiac care at Kaiser Permanente.