Chonnam National University Hospital Achieves 500th TAVI Procedure, First Among Regional Hospitals

Juhan Kim, Professor of Cardiology, Chonnam National University Hospital.

Chonnam National University Hospital announced on April 21 that it has become the first regional hospital to surpass 500 cases of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI).

The cardiology team led by Professor Juhan Kim at Chonnam National University Hospital recently performed a successful TAVI procedure on a patient surnamed Lee, aged 83, who was suffering from aortic valve stenosis. With this procedure, the hospital's cardiology department, which first performed TAVI as a regional hospital in 2015 and surpassed 200 cases in March 2022, has now reached 500 cases in just three years.

Aortic valve stenosis is a condition in which the aortic valve, the passageway from the heart to the aorta, becomes narrowed. For severe aortic valve stenosis accompanied by symptoms, surgery or a procedure is required. TAVI offers advantages such as a shorter procedure time, the possibility of being performed without general anesthesia, and less pain after the procedure, making it recommended for elderly and high-risk patients. Additionally, TAVI is less invasive compared to surgeries that require thoracotomy, and the range of indications for this procedure is expanding worldwide.

In particular, advanced age is one of the risk factors for aortic valve stenosis, and the demand for treatment of severe aortic valve stenosis is rapidly increasing in the Honam region, where the proportion of elderly people is high. However, TAVI can only be performed at hospitals with experienced cardiovascular specialists, and currently, only four hospitals in the Honam region are capable of performing the procedure.

In this context, the cardiology department at Chonnam National University Hospital is serving as a control tower, providing essential medical care to the local community. The cardiology team has performed the highest number of TAVI procedures outside of Seoul and the metropolitan area (ranking sixth nationwide), and has carried out various high-difficulty procedures such as valve-in-valve and procedures during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, thereby providing top-quality medical services.

Since the introduction of TAVI, the cardiology department has established and taken the lead in a multidisciplinary heart care system to determine the optimal treatment direction for severe aortic valve stenosis.

Professor Juhan Kim stated, "We will do our utmost to ensure that patients in Gwangju, Jeonnam, and the surrounding regions can receive high-quality medical services without the inconvenience of traveling to the Seoul metropolitan area."