Transcatheter aortic valve implantation: how to decrease post-operative complications

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a therapeutic option widely used for the treatment of severe aortic stenosis in the elderly. Careful pre-procedural screening, operator experience, and technological innovations, accounted for a safe, reliable, and standardized procedure. To further decrease post-operative complications, few steps are important: careful planning of the procedure by the Heart Team, clinical and diagnostic evaluation including electrocardiogram, echography, and computed tomography of the heart and great vessels. This approach will allow a selection of ideal candidates for the procedure, the best vascular approach, the selection of patients candidates for early discharge, and last but not least, simplification of the TAVI procedure. Although the procedure is reaching the ‘simplicity’ of coronary interventions, it should always be kept in mind the possibility, albeit remote, that life-threatening complication could ensue, requiring the prompt intervention of the cardiovascular surgeon.

Update on clinical evidence (Part II): A summary of the main post market studies

Bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS, Absorb, Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, CA) received the CE mark in October 2011, and were approved by the Food and Drug Administration in July 2016. After their introduction in clinical practice a broad amount of post-marketing clinical experience with BVS has been generated so far in Europe and outside the United States. The available BVS registries differ in many aspects, including their being single-center or multicenter, single-arm or controlled, sponsored or investigator-initiated, published or presented at a large-scale international meeting. This article provides an overview of clinical results of the main post-marketing studies of BVS available. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Anatomical features and management of bioresorbable vascular scaffolds failure: A case series from the GHOST registry

The Absorb bioresorbable vascular scaffold (Absorb BVS, Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, California) promises to address some of the residual shortcomings of existing metallic stents, such as late events induced by permanent caging of the coronary vessel. Scaffold restenosis (ScR) of BVS has been poorly described so far and treatment strategies for this event remain to be codified. We report on a case series of 14 lesions in 12 patients presenting with ScR and discuss their anatomical features and management strategies. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.