104-year-old woman awake during heart surgery

[KARE 11, January 17, 2017] A recent medical breakthrough is helping heart surgery patients get back on their feet faster. Doctors at Abbott Northwestern Hospital are keeping patients wide awake during surgery to have a heart valve replaced.

On Tuesday, a 104-year-old patient, Pat Marble, doctors describe as a "special lady" underwent a Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement, commonly called TAVR. Instead of opening the chest, doctors use a series of catheters to insert a new heart valve.