Dr. Anjan performs 100th TAVR procedure in 2023

Dr. Venkatesh Anjan and his team at Prairie Cardiovascular on the campus of HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital are celebrating performing 100 transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) surgeries in 2023. TAVR is a minimally invasive procedure that corrects the narrowing of the aortic valve. 

“The alternative to a TAVR procedure is open heart surgery,” says Dr. Anjan. “TAVR is a good option for patients who need this correction because it is less invasive, has a lower mortality rate and patients return to their normal quality of life sooner.”

“One hundred TAVRs in a year is a huge accomplishment for a single implanter,” says Chris Klay, MA, PT, MHA, FACHE, president and chief executive officer of HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. “Dr. Anjan is ranked one of the top TAVR implanters in the entire region, including St. Louis. We’re proud to have talented cardiologists and a comprehensive structural heart program at St. Elizabeth’s. Feedback from patients tells us that Dr. Anjan and his team don’t just perform many advanced procedures; they offer top-quality, compassionate care.”

In 2012, Prairie Cardiovascular was one of the first in downstate Illinois to offer the TAVR procedure to patients at our Springfield location at HSHS St. John’s Hospital, later expanding to O’Fallon and Carbondale, Illinois. Since then, more than 1,600 TAVR procedures have been done at the three Prairie Cardiovascular sites.

The TAVR is part of the comprehensive Structural Heart Program at Prairie. Other structural procedures include the Watchman, a device implanted in the heart to protect patients with atrial fibrillation from stroke, and the Mitral clip, which non-surgically repairs mitral valve regurgitation. 

The structural program at HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital is a team-based program that offers patient-centered concierge type service. The team is led by a specially trained physician and a nurse navigator to oversee the patient throughout the process. Other staff from Prairie Cardiovascular and St. Elizabeth’s partner to form a comprehensive team: an interventional cardiologist, surgeons, an imaging specialist, an electrophysiologist, anesthesiologists, a critical care ICU team, the cath lab team, surgical teams and research associates. 

To learn more about Prairie’s structural program in O’Fallon, call Angela Croessman, BSN RN, structural heart coordinator, at 618-233-6044 ext. 24566.