Clinical and hemodynamic effects of transcatheter aortic valve implantation

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a relatively novel treatment modality to treat patients with symptomatic aortic valve stenosis, who are deemed inoperable or have a high surgical risk. Early studies showed that TAVI is a feasible and safe procedure, with low mortality rates. It also results in short-term hemodynamic and symptomatic improvement in the majority of the patients. More recent studies demonstrated positive results on long-term, also in comparison with conventional open-heart aortic valve replacement. However, TAVI is associated with certain complications, which have impact on clinical outcome. Prevention of these complications by identifying risk factors and the improvement of device technology, may result in better clinical outcome. This will be the next step towards expanding the indication of TAVI to lower risk patients with aortic valve stenosis.