New guidelines from the American Society of Echocardiography, made in collaboration with the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance and Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography, represent an update of the group's original recommendations from 2009.

The valve, designed with a new-look sealing cuff for limiting paravalvular regurgitation, gained FDA approval in January 2023. 

A majority of strokes after TAVR occur in the first 48 hours, but patients remain at a significantly higher risk for much longer. 

Researchers examined data from more than 21,000 patients treated from 1997 to 2018, publishing their findings in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

“These findings are highly pertinent in a clinical setting," researchers explained. 

Asian patients are rarely represented in large TAVR trials, the authors wrote, so they focused on nearly 1,200 patients from South Korea to provide a fresh perspective. 

The new study included data on patients who presented for TAVR with preexisting AFib as well as those who developed new-onset AFib after the procedure. 

Hospitals should be making every effort to help sonographers deliver better, more accurate echocardiograms and improve the diagnosis of severe aortic stenosis. If you take care of your sonographers, your sonographers will take care of you.