Aortic stenosis (AS) can impair outflow of blood from the heart and is usually a progressive condition which can lead to left ventricular hypertrophy and progressive heart failure. Symptomatic aortic stenosis with angina, syncope or heart failure is associated with an annual mortality rate of around 25%. Without improvement of the obstruction to the aortic outflow, this condition has a very poor prognosis (1). Despite this, up to two-thirds of patients with severe AS do not undergo Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement (SAVR) due to their co-morbidities (2).
Interventional techniques for valvular heart disease have been rapidly growing in recent years, spearheaded by Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI), as this valve replacement procedure is less invasive than traditional Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement, making it an attractive treatment alternative for elderly, multi-morbid patients with high peri-operative mortality risk.
References:
- Liu, Z. (2018). Transcatheter aortic valve implantation for aortic stenosis in high surgical risk patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS ONE. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0196877
- Rajeswaran, J., Brozzi, N., Mack, M., Miller, D. C., Tuzcu, E. M., Kapadia, S., e.a. (2014). Comprehensive Analysis of Mortality Among Patients Undergoing TAVR. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 64(2), 158–168. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2013.08.1666