Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

About 7% of the population over age 65years suffers from degenerative aortic stenosis (AS). The prognosis of patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis is poor without valve replacement, and approximately one third of these patients over the age of 75years are not referred for surgery. Over the past decade, an extremely promising interventional technique entered the scientific community of cardiologists and cardiac surgeons. This technique consists on transcatheter implantation of a bioprosthetic aortic valve in patients with severe aortic stenosis. Today, almost 15years from that first-in-human implantation, the transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) plays a key role in the treatment of severe aortic stenosis; now considered as being the most effective treatment in inoperable patients and a reliable alternative to conventional surgical aortic valve replacement in high-and intermediate-risk patients. But the success of TAVR in less fragile and less morbid patients still need more studies to be confirmed the long-term durability, and the hemodynamic and clinical gains from TAVR. A newer-generation valves have shown their potential for further improvement in safety profile and overall outcomes. This manuscript is an attempt to review the current knowledge of TAVR.