Safety and Performance Outcomes of a Self-Expanding Transcatheter Aortic Heart Valve: The BIOVALVE Trials

Expanding our horizons for the use of transcatheter self-expanding valves: what does the future hold?

INTRODUCTION

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an established alternative to aortic valve surgery in patient with severe aortic valve stenosis. As interventionalists are pushing towards treatment of patients with lower risk profile with a wide range of anatomies, contemporary transcatheter heart valves (THV) should offer an excellent performance in terms of residual gradient, rate of pacemaker and perivalvular leak.

AREAS COVERED

Self-expandable (SE) valve offer a valid alternative to balloon-expandable (BE) valves, nevertheless comparative trials suggest a better outcome of patients treated with BE over SE platforms. New generation SE valves offer an excellent outcome in terms of procedural safety, however implementations in valve design and performance are required to reach the BE valves performance.

EXPERT COMMENTARY

in the near future, new devices should be able to obtain optimal results with a negligible rate of complications. Developments in the design of the delivery system together with refinements in valve technology are desirable to achieve results which are comparable to surgical aortic valve replacement.