Geneva man, 90, gets new aortic heart valve – without open heart surgery

Adolph Kunzelman, 90, (second from left) of Geneva, plays a game of pool with (from left) Sue Mercer of Geneva, Jack Marsh of Batavia and Darrel Scarff of Geneva. Kunzelman was the 100th procedure called a Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR), which replaces a narrowed heart valve without open-heart surgery and a long recovery at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital. (Sandy Bressner)

Adolph Kunzelman, 90, (second from left) of Geneva, plays a game of pool with (from left) Sue Mercer of Geneva, Jack Marsh of Batavia and Darrel Scarff of Geneva. Kunzelman was the 100th procedure called a Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR), which replaces a narrowed heart valve without open-heart surgery and a long recovery at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital. (Sandy Bressner)

Before and after a transcatheter aortic valve replacement. The aortic valve on the left has calcifications which restrict its opening. The valve on the right is after replacement. (Image provided)

The transcatheter valve that is used to replace a diseased heart valve via catheter, instead of open heart surgery. The image on the left is the side view of the replacement tissue supported in a metal scaffold. The center image is what the replaced valve looks like and the image on the right is what it looks like when it opens to allow blood flow. (Photo provided)

Dr. Guy Gang (left) surgical director of the Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute West; Christine Baillargeon, interventional radiology technologist; and Dr. Imran Ahmad, medical director, interventional cardiology at Central DuPage Hospital, perform an aortic transcatheter valve replacement procedure. (Meghan McCloud)

The transcatheter valve replacement device as held by a doctor. This method of replacing a diseased aortic valve involves inserting the device via catheter through the groin into the heart, without requiring open heart surgery. (Meghan McCloud)