Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) Imagine this, a 80-year-old patient laying in the bed with a chronic diagnosis of symptomatic aortic stenosis that has progressed to heart failure. The patient is declining rapidly. He is in need of surgical intervention to replace the aortic valve in order to sustain life. Doctors tell him that open heart surgery at his age is risky and comes with poor prognosis. The doctors on his team collaborated and discovered that this patient was in fact a candidate for a newer, minimally invasive procedure called a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). According to Reardon, this procedure has become an accepted alternative to surgery in patients such as the one laying in the bed currently. TAVR is performed with the use of a self-expanding prosthesis inserted with a catheter versus opening the entire chest and has been proven to be superior to other medical therapy in patients with severe aortic stenosis (Reardon, et al., 2017). This procedure offers the patient less pain post-operatively, significantly less scaring, and a much faster recovery time. The presenting patient can now expect to have improved symptoms and a prolonged life expectancy. Explanation and Background With a diagnosis of severe aortic stenosis this means that the patient has a narrowing of the aortic valve, causing a disruption in blood flow out of the heart and into the body. “The aortic valve is located between the left lower heart chamber and the body’s main artery. If the valve doesn’t open correctly, blood flow from the heart to the body is reduced” (Mayo Clinic, 2021). When this progresses into heart failure, the patient becomes at higher risk for surgical intervention as a treatment option. Typically, the valve replacement requires an intensive openheart surgery where the chest is fully opened in order to replace the damaged heart valve. Open heart surgery has significant risks associated and cannot be performed on many of the elderly or