Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation - New Trials, Newer Horizons

Volume 1, Oct 2012

Biswajit Paul, MD, DNB, New Delhi, India.

More than a decade and several thousands of procedures in over 40 nations, transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) still awaits general acceptance. The reasons for the “guarded” acceptance are simple. While surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) confers definite functional and survival benefits proven in numerous trials over decades, similar numerical data in TAVI is lacking. Understandably it is because of ethical issues concerning trial designs and the lack of expertise of the high-risk interventional procedure. While most data have been obtained from registries (FRANCE, SOURCE, UK Tavi registry, etc.) with their inherent limitations, recent trials (PARTNER) prove the feasibility and safety issues in “high-risk” and “inoperable cases” of severe AS.


Volume 1, Number 4, Pages: 208-12