Since performing our first transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in 2008, Royal Papworth Hospital has been recognised as one of the leading centres for TAVI.
Hundreds of patients have now undergone this pioneering procedure to improve their quality of life without the need for open heart surgery.
Historically, TAVI has been used to treat aortic valve stenosis. This is where calcium deposits in the aortic valve cause a narrowing of the valve and restrict blood flow out of the heart, causing life-limiting symptoms.
Now, using the Trilogy valve, our teams can perform TAVI as a minimally-invasive treatment for aortic regurgitation. This means patients in the east of England no longer need to travel to London or undergo much riskier cardiac surgery.
Aortic regurgitation is when the aortic valve doesn’t close properly, and blood flows the wrong way back through the heart, causing shortness of breath, chest pain, fatigue and a build-up of fluid.
So far, five patients have been treated for aortic regurgitation at Royal Papworth. Due to their age and underlying health conditions, all of them were deemed too high risk for open heart surgery.
Mary (79), from Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire, had her procedure in May 2025 and has described herself as ‘feeling a thousand percent better’.
Mary, from Bishop's Stortford, is one of five patients to benefit so far
She said: “I used to play golf and go to the gym two to three times a week, but my condition built up gradually and before the procedure I was feeling really poorly because my valve was leaking quite badly.
“I was so short of breath all the time – I could barely walk a few yards without stopping and even talking to people was hard.
“Since having the procedure, friends have said they can tell the difference, even just by talking to me over the phone.
“I’ve just started driving again and I’m very much looking forward to getting back to playing golf and going to the gym.
“The treatment I had was marvellous and the staff were absolutely fantastic – everyone from the nurses to the consultants and people bringing me a cup of tea, they were all lovely."
Mary had the minimally-invasive treatment on a Monday and was home by teatime on the Wednesday. She said she would ‘recommend TAVI without a shadow of a doubt’, adding: “Open heart surgery is very invasive but with the TAVI I had no pain and bounced back quickly.
“I’d encourage others not to worry about having this procedure, it wasn’t as bad as going to the dentist, and there were lots of people looking after me and reassuring me.”
Another one of our patients, a 76-year-old woman from Essex, also underwent the procedure in May and has noticed a big improvement to her breathing too.
She told us: “Beforehand I couldn’t walk very far, and I couldn't do quite a few things around the house because I was getting out of breath so quickly.
“Having the Trilogy TAVI valve has really improved my quality of life. I’ve just had a wander around the supermarket and bought some groceries, and I came home and unpacked everything from the car. I haven’t got a big problem with that now whereas I would have done before, I would have been terribly out of breath.
“My experience at Royal Papworth was wonderful. Everybody was so nice, so kind and very informative.”
Dr Charis Costopoulos, Clinical Lead for Non-Coronary Intervention and Consultant Cardiologist in Coronary and Structural Intervention at Royal Papworth Hospital, said: “We’re extremely proud to be able to offer the Trilogy valve system to our patients.
“These patients now can have definitive treatment here. Previously, people who were deemed inoperable would bounce in and out of hospital with little quality of life between admissions.
"It also means that high-risk patients who would otherwise have surgical aortic valve replacement as their only option can now be treated minimally invasively, resulting in reduced hospital length of stay and much quicker recovery.
“The fact that we have been selected as one of a handful of centres that can access this technology is a testament of the hard work of everyone involved in expanding and growing our TAVI programme to one of the biggest in the county.”