Nearly 50% of patients under the age of 60 are now opting for TAVR over SAVR, according to a new study presented at STS 2024 in San Antonio. "We owe it to our patients to take a more prominent role in providing the highest quality evidence to help our patients make these major healthcare decisions," one researcher said. 

Paravalvular leak remains a significant problem after TAVR, SAVR and even TMVR. Could a new-look interventional technique help heart teams overcome this issue and improve patient outcomes? 

The new device was designed to help clinicians perform valve-in-valve TAVR on certain high-risk patients. One cardiologist familiar with the technology said it could be easily added to any preexisting TAVR workflow. 

Researchers tracked five-year data from more than 200 patients, sharing their findings in the American Journal of Cardiology.

The CDC defines severe obesity, or class III obesity, as any patient with a BMI of 40 or higher. TAVR among these patients is not associated with a lower survival rate, but it does lead to many more risks.

Heart teams can limit the risk of conduction disturbances that lead to permanent pacemaker implantation by utilizing both the cusp-overlap method and intracardiac echocardiography.

With heart teams performing valve-in-valve TAVR more and more, researchers wanted to take a fresh look at patient outcomes. Overall, they found, the procedure was linked to a low mortality rate and fewer permanent pacemakers than native-valve TAVR.

Researchers in India performed TAVR on two relatively young patients with a preexisting mechanical mitral valve, sharing their experience in a new case report. The group highlighted the importance of planning ahead.