BEFORE YOU CHOOSE A VALVE PATH
YOUR INCISION SHOULD BE YOUR DECISION™
A cardiac surgeon and cardiologist independently review the complete records and imaging required for your case, then co-sign one report explaining the indication, anatomy, surgical alternative, lifetime considerations, and questions that remain.
Free to begin—answer a few questions online to see if a second opinion fits your case. The co-signed two-physician report follows within 24 hours once required records are complete.
What happens next: A member of our team will call within 2 business hours. During business hours, a same-day conversation with a cardiac surgeon or cardiologist may be arranged only when clinically appropriate and a physician is available.
The written review includes two independent physician reviews and one co-signed written report; it does not include a live physician consultation. A higher service level includes everything in the written review plus one live consultation with one reviewing physician.
IndicationIs intervention supported now?
TAVR fitAccess and anatomical constraints
Surgical fitWhat surgery could address
Lifetime planDurability and future options
Aortic valve reviewTWO WAYS TO BEGIN
Both plans include the same independent review by a cardiac surgeon and cardiologist and one co-signed written report.
Two independent physician reviews and one co-signed written report. No live physician consultation.
Everything included in the written review, plus one live consultation with one reviewing physician.
The report is delivered within 24 hours only after all required records and imaging are received and confirmed complete. Time spent gathering missing records is outside the 24-hour window.
Direct-pay service. WHITEGLOVEMD does not submit insurance claims. No referral is required.
THE DECISION BEFORE THE PROCEDURE
TAVR and surgical valve replacement are treatments—not diagnoses. TAVR is most often considered for severe aortic stenosis. The record should first establish what is wrong with the valve, how severe it is, how the heart is responding, what symptoms may be attributable to it, and why the decision is being made now.
When findings disagree, the right next step may be better measurement or another study—not an immediate leap to either procedure.
THE WHOLE-CASE COMPARISON
These are the questions the complete record must help answer. They are not a candidacy checklist and do not replace an in-person Heart Valve Team evaluation.
Symptoms, valve severity, ventricular response, testing, disease trajectory, and the treating team’s rationale come before the choice of procedure.
Valve dimensions, calcification, coronary height, annular and root anatomy, vascular access, and prior implants can affect transcatheter feasibility.
Coronary disease, another valve, the aortic root or ascending aorta, rhythm disease, and other structural findings may change the value of a surgical approach.
Age, anticipated longevity, valve durability, coronary access, pacemaker considerations, and the feasibility of future valve procedures belong in the first decision.
When applicable, the current STS ACSD operative-risk estimate is useful only with verified inputs and interpretation beside frailty, anatomy, organ function, and factors the model does not capture.
Recovery, durability, avoiding sternotomy, future options, uncertainty, support at home, and willingness to accept tradeoffs should be made visible—not assumed.
TAVR AND SURGERY, SIDE BY SIDE
For severe aortic stenosis, when both paths are clinically relevant, the comparison should include what each approach can treat now and what it may make easier—or harder—later.
A catheter-based valve procedure, most often evaluated for transfemoral access.
An operation that removes the diseased valve and allows direct repair or treatment of other cardiac problems when needed.
Whether an appropriately sized transcatheter valve can treat the aortic valve without an open operation.
Whether the valve, aorta, coronary arteries, or additional valves can be addressed together and with direct visualization.
Vascular access, valve and root anatomy, coronary obstruction or future coronary access, paravalvular leak, pacemaker risk, and long-term strategy.
Operative recovery, re-entry or incision considerations, cardiopulmonary bypass, organ reserve, and procedure-specific surgical risk.
Valve durability, valve-in-valve feasibility, coronary access, and the consequences of a later surgical operation.
Prosthesis choice, durability, anticoagulation when relevant, and whether a future transcatheter valve could fit inside the surgical valve.
A record review can organize the documented tradeoffs. Only the treating team can determine procedural eligibility after clinical evaluation.
YOUR WHITEGLOVE Insights™ REPORT
Built from your source record, reviewed by both specialties, and written so you can use it with the clinicians who know you.
Aortic valve reviewIndependent dual-physician review
The documented stenosis or regurgitation, symptoms, ventricular response, and why intervention is being discussed now.
Where the reviewing cardiac surgeon and cardiologist agree, where uncertainty remains, and what should be clarified with the treating team.
The decision placed beside current valve guidelines and the case details that make those recommendations relevant.
The current STS ACSD operative-risk estimate when applicable, with verified inputs, calculation date, missing data, and model limitations made visible. Other models are discussed only when documented in the source record.
A patient-facing explanation of the aortic valve, annulus, root, coronaries, access vessels, and other findings in the record.
The potential benefits, burdens, constraints, and future implications of each reasonable pathway in your case.
Discordant measurements, incomplete imaging, unresolved coronary questions, or additional studies to discuss before committing.
A concise list for the valve specialist, interventional cardiologist, cardiac surgeon, and your family.
One report. Two clinical perspectives.Start with the written review; add live time only if you want it.
INDEPENDENT DUAL REVIEW
The cardiologist reviews the diagnosis, medical context, and relevant imaging; the report identifies catheter-feasibility questions for the treating structural-heart team. The cardiac surgeon reviews operative indication, anatomy, what surgery could address, prosthesis strategy, and future options.
They review independently, then confer and co-sign one report—so the patient does not have to reconcile two disconnected notes.
Only the treating multidisciplinary valve team determines procedural eligibility.
Meet the physiciansHOW IT WORKS
We help assemble the evidence before the clinical clock starts.
Tell us what you were told, what is already scheduled, and what still feels unresolved. No referral or records are needed to begin.
Upload what you have. With authorization, the records team can help obtain the notes, reports, tests, and source imaging required for your specific review.
The clinical review begins only after the relevant records and imaging needed for the case have been received and confirmed.
A cardiac surgeon and cardiologist each review the complete case, then confer around the decision.
The report is delivered within 24 hours only after all required records and imaging are received and confirmed complete. Time spent gathering missing records is outside the 24-hour window.
TAVR SECOND OPINION FAQ
Still deciding whether a records review fits? Message us with the question you are carrying. We will read it before we call.
Message UsA TAVR second opinion is an independent review of the aortic-valve diagnosis, imaging, proposed transcatheter procedure, surgical alternative, risk context, and unanswered questions. At WHITEGLOVEMD, a cardiac surgeon and cardiologist review the complete record independently and co-sign one patient-facing WHITEGLOVE Insights™ report.
No. TAVR places a replacement aortic valve through a catheter and does not require the same open surgical approach as surgical aortic valve replacement. The procedures have different access requirements, technical capabilities, recovery profiles, limitations, and future implications. The treating Heart Valve Team determines whether either approach is appropriate.
The comparison can include symptoms, valve severity, age and anticipated longevity, surgical risk, frailty, transfemoral access, valve and aortic anatomy, coronary disease, other valves, prior operations, expected durability, coronary access, future valve options, and patient goals. No single factor determines the answer in every case.
No. Age and anticipated longevity are important, but they are not the only considerations. Anatomy, access, other cardiac disease, surgical risk, valve durability, future coronary and valve procedures, functional status, and patient preferences also matter. A treating Heart Valve Team must individualize the choice.
Predicted surgical risk is only one part of the decision. Current U.S. valve guidance considers age, expected longevity, transfemoral feasibility, anatomy, indications for intervention, and shared decision-making in addition to surgical risk. Device labeling, local expertise, and the treating team’s evaluation also apply.
The exact record varies, but it may include echocardiography, the TAVR planning CT with source images, cardiac catheterization or coronary imaging, ECG, laboratory results, specialist notes, and prior operative or valve records. Upload what you have; the records team can help identify and request missing materials with authorization.
Coronary height and access, the aortic annulus and root, calcification, bicuspid anatomy, ascending-aortic disease, and coronary artery disease can influence procedural feasibility, complications, whether another problem needs treatment, and the options available later. These details require review of the actual record and imaging.
TAVR may be considered in selected patients with bicuspid anatomy, but suitability is case-specific. Valve shape and calcification, aortic-root and ascending-aortic dimensions, coronary anatomy, access, age, expected longevity, and the need for other surgery all require careful evaluation by the treating Heart Valve Team.
Additional coronary, valve, rhythm, or aortic disease can change the comparison because surgery may allow more than one problem to be addressed in a single operation, while staged or catheter-based strategies may be possible in selected cases. The report organizes the documented options and tradeoffs for discussion with your treating team.
When applicable, the report may include the current STS ACSD operative-risk estimate using verified inputs, with the calculation date, missing data, and model limitations made visible. It cannot predict an individual outcome or determine procedural candidacy. Other risk models are discussed only when documented in the source record.
WHITEGLOVE Insights™ includes two independent physician reviews and one co-signed written report; it does not include a live physician consultation. WHITEGLOVE Consult includes everything in the written review plus one live consultation with one reviewing physician. Pricing is shared during the complimentary discovery call. WHITEGLOVEMD is a direct-pay service and does not submit insurance claims.
The report is delivered within 24 hours only after all required records and imaging are received and confirmed complete. Time spent gathering missing records is outside the 24-hour window.
No referral is required, and the medical-record review is completed virtually. Travel is not required for the review. An in-person evaluation may still be required by any team considering a procedure.
WHITEGLOVEMD provides educational decision support and independent medical-record review. The report organizes the evidence, reasonable pathways, tradeoffs, uncertainties, and questions. It does not diagnose, prescribe, determine candidacy, choose a procedure, or replace the clinicians responsible for your care.
Call 911 or seek immediate emergency care for new or severe chest pain, severe shortness of breath, fainting, stroke symptoms, or rapid worsening. Do not wait for an online records review when symptoms may represent an emergency.
BEFORE THE VALVE DECISION
Tell us what you were told, what is already scheduled, and what still feels unclear. A member of our team will call within 2 business hours. During business hours, a same-day conversation with a cardiac surgeon or cardiologist may be arranged only when clinically appropriate and a physician is available.
Written review: two independent physician reviews and one co-signed written report; no live physician consultation. Written review plus live consultation: everything in the written review plus one live consultation with one reviewing physician.