Both studies followed beyond 5 years patients with severe aortic stenosis who had undergone transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Findings included low rates of significant valve degeneration and failure, in both cases. While data on the long-term degeneration of transcatheter-implanted valves are scarce, follow-up from the NOTION trial of low-risk patients and from the UK TAVI...
The Most Important Articles of 2018 in Structural Heart Diseases
1- ESC 2018 | MITRA FR: Testing MitraClip for Secondary Mitral Regurgitation In secondary mitral regurgitation, mitral-valve leaflets and chordae are structurally normal and mitral regurgitation results from alterations in left ventricular geometry and function. Read more 2- TCT 2018 | COAPT: MitraClip in Patients with Secondary Mitral Regurgitation The prognosis of patients with...
TAVR Is Feasible and Offers Good Outcomes in Patients with Cancer
Courtesy of Dr. Carlos Fava. Oncology patients have been excluded from all studies, but many of them have a life expectancy of over a year or two, and aortic stenosis can pose a problem as regards their treatment. This study analyzed 2744 patients who underwent TAVR. Among them, 222 presented cancer (8.1%). Patients with cancer were younger,...
Balloon-Expandable vs. Self-Expanding: To Each Valve Its Own Annulus
The former generation of valves, the balloon expandable (Sapien XT), was associated to less paravalvular leak than the self-expanding valves only in patients with larger annuli. The new generation of self-expanding valves (Evolut R) has managed to significantly improve sealing in patients with larger annuli and still holds potential benefits for smaller annuli. The aim...
Is TAVR at Hospitals Without Backup Cardiovascular Surgery Feasible?
Patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) at hospitals without cardiovascular surgery available are at significantly higher risk. That in itself is a call for attention; however, a propensity-matched analysis shows that the short- and long-term mortality rates are similar among patients treated at hospitals with and without cardiovascular surgery backup. This debate emerged a...
TAVR in Low-Risk Patients with “Zero” Mortality and “Zero” Stroke
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is now the standard of care for patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis who are at extreme, high, or intermediate risk for surgery. This multicenter, prospective study (Feasibility of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in Low-Risk Patients With Symptomatic, Severe Aortic Stenosis) included low-risk patients and was approved by the United...
Complete Revascularization Improves Long-Term Prognosis in Acute Coronary Syndromes
Going beyond the culprit artery during angioplasty was associated with lower mortality, although this was a cohort study that should be confirmed through randomized trials. According to this new observational study, patients experiencing non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction with multivessel disease seem to benefit from complete revascularization during initial angioplasty. This study, published online before...
TCT 2018 | SOLVE-TAVI: Self-Expandable vs. Balloon-Expandable Valves and General vs. Local Anesthesia in One Study
This prospective, randomized, multicenter study included 447 patients with severe aortic stenosis and intermediate or high surgical risk randomized in a 2×2 factorial design to general vs. conscious sedation with local anesthesia and also to receiving the Sapien 3 valve (balloon-expandable) vs. CoreValve Evolut R (self-expandable). Primary end point was a composite of all-cause mortality,...
TCT 2018 | PORTICO-I: One Year Follow-Up for the Self-Expandable Reposisionable Valve
This study was simultaneously presented at TCT and published at JACCE, and it aims at showing the one-year outcomes of this new TAVR device, though follow-up is at 5 years. Primary end point was all cause mortality and secondary end points included clinical and echocardiographic events. With a total 941 patients (82,4 ± 5,9...
TCT 2018 | NEOPRO: A Registry for Acurate neo and Evolut PRO
The purpose of this registry was to compare short-term clinical events and echocardiographic findings in two self-expanding valves used with transfemoral access, Acurate neo and Evolut PRO. The registry included a retrospective follow-up of 1551 patients, among whom 1263 received an Acurate neo valve and 288 received an Evolut Pro valve. The procedural success rates according to VARC-2 criteria were...