Long-term Outcomes of the Ross Procedure for Young Patients with Aortic Valve Disease

Lifetime Management of Adolescents and Young Adults with Congenital Aortic Valve Disease

In this invited expert review, we focus on evolving lifetime management strategies for adolescents and young adults with congenital aortic valve disease, acknowledging that these patients often require multiple interventions during their lifetime. Our goal is to preserve the native aortic valve when feasible. Leveraging advanced multimodality imaging, a detailed assessment of the aortic valve and root complex can be obtained, and a surgically approach tailored to an individual patient's anatomy and pathology can be used. In turn, aortic valve repair and reconstruction can be offered to a greater number of patients, either as a definitive strategy or as a component of a staged strategy to delay the need for aortic valve replacement until later in life when more options are available.

Valvular heart disease: from mechanisms to management

Valvular heart disease is common and its prevalence is rapidly increasing worldwide. Effective medical therapies are insufficient and treatment was historically limited to the surgical techniques of valve repair or replacement, resulting in systematic underprovision of care to older patients and those with substantial comorbidities, frailty, or left ventricular dysfunction. Advances in imaging and surgical techniques over the past 20 years have transformed the management of valvular heart disease. Better understanding of the mechanisms and causes of disease and an increasingly extensive and robust evidence base provide a platform for the delivery of individualised treatment by multidisciplinary heart teams working within networks of diagnostic facilities and specialist heart valve centres. In this Series paper, we aim to provide an overview of the current and future management of valvular heart disease and propose treatment approaches based on an understanding of the underlying pathophysiology and the application of multidisciplinary treatment strategies to individual patients.

Transcatheter Versus Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement in Young, Low-risk Patients with Severe Aortic Stenosis

Aortic stenosis is a common form of acquired degenerative valvular disease associated with poor survival after the onset of symptoms. Treatment options for patients with aortic stenosis in addition to medical therapy include surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) with either tissue or mechanical valves, or transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) with either balloon-expandable or self-expanding valves via either transfemoral or alternative access routes. In this review, the authors discuss the current evidence and special considerations regarding the use of TAVR versus SAVR in the management of severe aortic stenosis in young (<65 years of age), low-risk patients, highlighting the history of aortic stenosis treatment, the current guidelines and recommendations, and important issues that remain to be addressed. Ultimately, until ongoing clinical trials with long-term follow-up data shed light on whether interventions for aortic stenosis can be broadened to a low-risk population, TAVR in young, low-risk patients should be undertaken with caution and with guidance from a multidisciplinary heart team.