Interventional cardiologist talks advances in heart valve disease management and barriers to optimal patient care

MedTech News: In raising awareness of Heart Valve Awareness Week, Interventional Cardiologist at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney and one of the most experienced Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) operators in Australia, Dr David Roy, joined Health Industry Hub in an intriguing discussion on the evolution of clinical practice in the management of heart valve disease.

Dr Roy reflected on the current barriers to optimal patient care and the relevance of patient engagement and empowerment.

He shared his perspective on the research and evidence gaps, that if addressed, will potentially shift the future management of patients with heart valve disease.

Additionally, he expressed his views on how policies and systems could transform to facilitate timely access to innovative medical technologies in Australia.

Dr Roy said “For patients with valve disease we have many options which we didn’t really have before. That was obviously a revolution brought about in aortic valve disease or artic stenosis, but that has also spread to the other main prevalent heart valve disease, which is mitral valve disease and mainly mitral regurgitation.”

He added “We started doing TAVIs in 2008 and they were really the sickest of the sick, inoperable patients. What we don’t know is how durable will these valves be. I think the clinicians have all seen many examples of the valves being certainly on par in durability with what’s offered in surgery, but we need another five years to really prove that there is no difference in the treatment.”

Biography

Dr David Roy is an Interventional cardiologist and adult structural cardiologist at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, specialising in coronary and structural interventions and with a particular interest in TAVI.

Dr Roy’s research background includes post graduate research in TAVI with a number of published first-in-man studies in the field of TAVI including the world’s first series of TAVI for AR. Dr Roy has been an investigator in a number of randomised international TAVI trials. Dr Roy is the current editor-in-chief of the St Vincent’s Proceedings journal.

Dr Roy is a senior lecturer in the University of New South Wales and Notre Dame universities. He is a proctor of structural heart procedures and has taught physicians from all over the world including India, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and all over Australia.