İzmir doctors perform rare subclavian TAVI heart valve procedure

Medical teams at İzmir Şehir Hastanesi in Turkey have successfully performed a specialized 'subclavian TAVI' procedure on a 76-year-old patient, Lütfi Vurucu. The patient presented with severe aortic valve stenosis, acute heart failure, and multiple comorbidities, including chronic lung and kidney diseases, toxic goiter, and spinal curvature.

Standard TAVI procedures were not viable because the patient's groin vessels were blocked, and open-heart surgery posed a high risk due to his overall health condition. To bypass these complications, a multidisciplinary team of cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, and anesthesiologists utilized the vessel located beneath the collarbone (subclavian artery) to reach the heart and implant the new aortic valve.

Following the successful operation, the patient reported significant improvement in his ability to breathe and a reduction in chest pressure. Professor Dr. Pınar Türker Duyuler from the Cardiology Clinic noted the complexity of the case due to the patient's various underlying health issues.