56 | March /April 2019
N
F E A T U R E
THE HEART OF THE MATTER
Hope and healing offered by new procedure at Cape Fear Valley
BY CATHERINE PRITCHARD | PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATTHEW WONDERLY
Nearly two years of planning came to fruition on
December 19 at Cape Fear Valley Health's flagship hospital
in Fayetteville.
Two elderly patients had faulty heart valves replaced that
day through a procedure known as TAVR, or transcatheter
aortic valve replacement. Within six hours, both were up
and walking with more energy and ability than they'd felt
in months or maybe years. e next day, both were able to
go home.
"I feel great," 80-year-old Ruby Williams said a month
later. "ey did a wonderful job."
By adding TAVR procedures to its wide range of heart
services, the hospital can now help patients who previously
had to travel an hour or more to have it done. It may also
encourage people who need the procedure but delay dealing
with it because of the hassle of driving to Raleigh, Durham,
Chapel Hill or beyond.
"One of the reasons we wanted to do this here is we
didn't want local patients to have to go all that way,"
said Amol Bahekar, M.D., an interventional cardiologist
performing TAVRs at Cape Fear Valley.
But bringing the procedure to the hospital took lots
of training and preparation, including setting up and
equipping a new state-of-the-art hybrid operating room.
Medical staff including Bahekar and or Klang, M.D.,
another interventional cardiologist, underwent months of
intensive training.
On December 19, all of that work began to pay off for
