Balloon Aortic Valvuloplasty (BAV)

 The aortic valve is stretched during a balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV) operation to alleviate aortic stenosis symptoms.

Your aortic valve will be visible on X-rays when a catheter, or thin, flexible tube, is placed into an artery in your groin. After that, the aortic valve is given a tiny balloon injection to assist the heart's blood flow. Most patients simply need to arrive on the day of their surgery and remain overnight because this operation is performed under local anesthesia.

PROCEDURE

Your doctor will insert a cannula (a tiny tube) into a vein during the surgery to help supply fluids and drugs. Your chest will be covered with electrodes by a physiologist that are connected to a cardiac monitor. A local anaesthetic will then be injected into the top of your leg, and after the skin has become completely numb, two sheaths will be implanted. The first will enter an artery, and the second, a vein. Then, your doctor will use a pacing wire to raise your heart beat by inserting it into the sheath in the vein that enters your heart.

We raise your heart rate since doing the BAV becomes simpler and lowers your blood pressure and heart's workload. Your doctor will use fluoroscopy to guide the threading of a catheter with a balloon attached into the sheath inserted into the artery and through to your heart. You might receive an injection of dye after the catheter is inserted so that your arteries and aortic valve appear more clearly on the X-ray.

It is totally natural to feel flushed, have a salty or metallic taste in your mouth, or develop a headache, but these symptoms often only last a short while. The valve will then be opened by your doctor inflating the balloon, which may be done up to three times. You might feel queasy or uncomfortable when the balloon is inflated, but you should feel better fairly quickly. Your doctor will remove the catheter, balloon, and pacing wire after the balloon has been inflated. Your doctor will next use an angioseal, which the body absorbs over the course of 90 days, to close the tiny incision where the sheath was introduced.