Taiwanese medical teams advance lifetime management for heart valve disease

Medical institutions in Taiwan are shifting toward a ‘lifetime management’ approach for heart valve diseases, such as aortic valve stenosis, to address the needs of an aging population. As life expectancy increases, clinicians are focusing on long-term planning during initial treatments to account for the eventual wear of artificial valves.

At Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, medical teams are utilizing multi-stage, minimally invasive strategies to treat elderly patients with complex comorbidities. In one notable case, an 85-year-old patient with severe aortic stenosis and lung cancer was treated using a phased approach: first undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) to stabilize heart function, followed by minimally invasive thoracoscopic surgery to remove a lung tumor.

Other advancements include the use of ‘dry valves’ in TAVR procedures to improve long-term durability and reduce calcification. Hospitals are increasingly employing multidisciplinary ‘Heart Teams’—comprising cardiologists, surgeons, and imaging specialists—to facilitate shared decision-making and integrated care for patients facing multiple chronic conditions.