VCU Completes 100th TAVR!

Congratulations to cardiologist Dr. Zachary Gertz and cardiac surgeon Dr. Gabor Bagameri and their team for performing VCU’s 100th transcatheter aortic valve replacement in March. Only a few other sites in the region have achieved this landmark.

“We are very proud of our excellent results and ability to bring this and other new therapies for valvular heart disease that do not require open chest surgery. This has made a huge impact on our patients’ lives and we look forward to leading the medical community in this area,” says Dr. Kenneth Ellenbogen, chair of VCU Division of Cardiology.

According to Dr. Gertz, director of the VCU Structural Heart Disease program, “Every case has one cardiologist and one surgeon and we work together.” The team has also started doing the procedure with conscious sedation, instead of with general anesthesia or a breathing tube. “It leads to faster recovery times. We do more of this than any other program in the state.”