Making a TAVI referral
Referrals to the service can be made by any physician by either email or letter.
Note that all cases being considered for aortic valve intervention will need to be discussed at a dedicated aortic valve MDT.
We would encourage local teams to send any correspondence electronically using the following email address in order to avoid delays [email protected]
Images and reports of local tests and scans also need to be sent with the referral so that these can be viewed by the team.
All patients aged 75 and over will need a TAVI CT performing prior to discussion and should be requested by the referrer, either at North Tees Hospital (out of area patients) or James Cook (in area patients).
It is useful if this is requested as soon as a decision to refer is made in order to avoid delays for the patient.
Useful information to include in the referral
Symptoms
Trajectory of disease
Medications
Comorbidities including detail on previous cardiac history
Examination findings
General impression of frailty, tolerability of surgery or TAVI
Details of cognitive function if impaired and lung function testing if there is a respiratory history
Letters should be posted to the aortic MDT, care of Mel Gunkel, cardiology, The James Cook University Hospital, but please note that posted letters can take a number of weeks to reach us.
Emails can also be sent to [email protected] or [email protected]
If you are referring a patient for inpatient management the above information should be accompanied with a phone call to the team on 07741 616394.