Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has been a crucial treatment for elder patients with aortic stenosis in developed countries, which is still at its beginning in China. TAVR is a risky and complicated technic; and to promise the long-term development of it, we need to build a multiple disciplinary heart team consisted of doctors from different specialties and guided by various disciplines, also to guarantee the team operates well. In order to help Chinese doctors understand heart team well, this article describes component parts and requirement for each member of the team, in aspect of cardiologist, cardiac surgeon, echocardiologist, radiologist, anesthesiologist and nursing team; and discuss team operation mechanism through pre-procedural evaluation, procedural cooperation, peri-procedural management and post-procedural follow-up.
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) as a mature technology has been widely applied in Western countries. In China, with the first two domestic prostheses being approved for commercial use, the technology now is expecting a fast development. In this article, we reviewed the features of Chinese aortic stenosis patients, the early Chinese experience of TAVR, the application of domestic prostheses and remaining problems.
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is the best treatment for severe aortic stenosis with high surgical risk, and low body weight significantly increased the risk of surgery and postoperative all-cause mortality. A case of elderly female diagnosed with severe aortic valve stenosis and extremely low body weight was presented in this article. Additionally, horizocardia and low located coronary orifice were also found in this patient, which markedly increased the risk and complexity of the TAVR procedure. During the operation, circulatory collapse occurred, and prosthetic valve was quickly released under emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The operation was successful and the patient’s vital signs recovered soon. The follow-up showed that the patient was in good condition.
This paper reported a 75-year-old female patient. She was admitted to our hospital for “repeated chest pain, shortness of breath for more than 5 years, and syncope 3 times”. The CT scan of the patient showed severe aortic valve stenosis, bicuspid valve, and severe calcification; then she underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement in our hospital. After the prosthesis was implanted, there was a significant paravalvular leak. Considering the triangular area formed between the calcified clumps, the valve was not fully dilated. Paravalvular leak closure was performed during the operation, attempted through the valve stent mesh to closuring. A rare incarceration of the transmitter occurred. An attempt was made to pull out the incarcerated transmitter through a pull-up technique, which resulted in the prosthesis prolapse. The patient was eventually transferred to surgery aortic valve replacement.
A 78-year-old female patient was admitted to West China Hospital of Sichuan University because of “amaurosis and polypnea for 4+ years”. The examination results before admission showed that severe stenosis of aortic valve, bicuspid aortic valve malformation, severe horizontal heart with 61.54° aortic angle. The preoperative evaluation of the patient indicated that the Society of Thoracic Surgeons score was 17.9%, which was high risk for surgery. After discussion by the heart team, the aortic stenosis was finally relieved by transcatheter aortic valve replacement. The operation was successfully completed by using the method of pulling and releasing the device with the same side basket. One month follow-up showed that the patient’s condition was stable and no complications occurred. This case aims to provide a reference for the treatment of horizontal heart with aortic stenosis. In the future, it is hoped that through continuous clinical practice, such patients will be provided with a safer and more efficient treatment plan.
This case was a 78-year-old woman characterized exertional dyspnea and diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis. Preoperative evaluation revealed that the patient had a very high surgical risk, so transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) was proposed. But this patient was at high risk of coronary obstruction. After weighing advantages and disadvantages, the heart team decided to choose TAVR under the protection of guide wire and balloon at last. Left coronary ostia obstruction happened after self-expanding valve released during TAVR. Then, emergency “chimney” stent implantation was performed. Finally, TAVR and coronary revascularization was successfully completed. The patient’s condition was improved after TAVR and being good in follow-up. Based on this case, risk factors of coronary obstruction during TAVR and effectiveness and safety of “chimney” stent technique was discussed.
Objective To compare the clinical and hemodynamic results of patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) with different vascular approaches. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the baseline status, procedure status, procedure-related clinical complications defined by Valve Academic Research Consortium-2 consensus document, and postoperative hemodynamic results of patients with severe aortic stenosis who underwent TAVR between April 2012 and January 2019 in West China Hospital of Sichuan University. Results A total of 436 patients were enrolled, including 58 patients undergoing surgical cutdown and 378 patients undergoing percutaneous puncture. The prevalence of tumor in the surgical cutdown group was higher than that in the percutaneous puncture group (8.62% vs. 2.65%, P=0.037), while the other baseline characteristics, including age, male proportion, body mass index, and Society of Thoracic Surgeons scores, were similar between the two groups (P>0.05); the proportion of patients with aortic regurgitation equal to or greater than a moderate degree in the surgical cutdown group was lower than that in the percutaneous puncture group (22.41% vs. 35.98%, P=0.043), and there was no statistically significant difference in other preoperative cardiac ultrasound-related indicators (P>0.05). The procedure success rate was high in both groups (96.55% vs. 98.68%, P=0.236). Immediately after operation, the incidences of new-onset left bundle branch block (43.10% vs. 24.87%, P=0.004), severe bleeding (12.07% vs. 4.23%, P=0.030), and mild bleeding (20.69% vs. 3.44%, P<0.001) were higher in the surgical cutdown group than those in the percutaneous puncture group, and the postoperative hemodynamics indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in maximum blood flow velocity between the two groups [(2.37±0.52) vs. (2.50±1.67) m/s, P=0.274]. At the 1 year follow-up, the cardiac death rate (5.17% vs. 3.17%, P=0.696) and all-causes mortality rate (8.62% vs. 8.47%, P=1.000) between the two groups were not statistically different.Conclusions Compared with percutaneous puncture, surgical cutdown is associated with a higher incidence of bleeding events, while the incidence of other clinical complications such as vascular complications and the postoperative hemodynamic outcomes were similar.
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) developed rapidly since firstly introduced to clinical practice in 2002. In 2015, Experts Consensus for Transeatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (abbreviated as the Consensus) helped TAVR develop normatively and safely in China. This article interpreted the Consensus in combination of new evolutions of TAVR field: first, the indications of TAVR expand from inoperative and high risk patients to the intermediate risk patients; second, although the Consensus recommended pre-dilation with balloon of modest size, the necessity of pre-dilation is under debate; third, the Consensus pointed out main complications of TAVR, and the main strategies to avoid complications are careful pre-procedural analysis and development of new device; fourth, our experts had made outstanding contribution to TAVR in the treatment of patients with bicuspid aortic valve, which still has many problems to be solved urgently.
The short-term mortality of patients with severe aortic stenosis is high, which presents a great challenge to clinical treatment. With the development of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), emergent TAVR brings hope for the treatment of these patients. We present here a case of emergent TAVR procedure. The patient was an elderly male who had previously undergone surgical mitral valve replacement. After fully assessing the risk/benefit of TAVR procedure, emergent TAVR was performed for the patient. The patient was in good condition at two-month follow-up. Emergent TAVR is a good option for critical high-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis.
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is an emerging alternative for the treatment of aortic stenosis (AS). Evidence from clinical trials sprang up continuously, and guidelines have listed TAVR as an alternative for part of AS patients. Although old guidelines only recommended TAVR for surgical high-risk or in-operable AS patients, the latest guidelines have expanded its indications enormously. Moreover, there are ongoing TAVR studies on low-risk patients, asymptomatic patients, pure aortic regurgitation patients, bicuspid aortic valve patients,etc. It is believed that the indication of TAVR will continue to expand. More and more patients will benefit from TAVR in the foreseeable future.
