Valve‐in‐valve implantation with a 23‐mm balloon‐expandable transcatheter heart valve for the treatment of a 19‐mm stentless bioprosthesis severe aortic regurgitation using a strategy of “extreme” underfilling

We report a case of valve-in-valve (ViV) implantation by transfemoral approach with a 23-mm balloon-expandable prosthesis inside a stentless 19-mm acutely degenerated bioprosthesis, using a strategy of "extreme" underfilling. A 74-year-old patient presented to our institution in cardiogenic shock. An initial transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) showed severe central aortic regurgitation (AR) due to a torn leaflet. She was deemed inoperable and considered for urgent transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Given the fairly small true internal diameter, a strategy of 3-cc underfilling of a 23-mm transcatheter heart valve (THV) was planned. However, the final implantation was performed with 5-cc underfilling due to the incapacity to deliver the entire amount of fluid contained in the inflation syringe. TEE guidance confirmed the successful positioning and deployment of the prosthesis, with no AR and a mean gradient of 25 mm Hg. While implantation of a smaller prosthesis (20 mm) was debated during the Heart Team discussion, the risk of valve embolization due to inadequate anchoring inside the stentless prosthesis led to the selection of a 23-mm THV. At 6-month follow-up, the patient was in NYHA class I, with no AR and a mean gradient of 28 mm Hg. We report for the first time the use of in vivo THV with 5-cc underfilling with no acute or short-term structural failure, and the first ViV implantation by transfemoral approach with a 23-mm balloon-expandable prosthesis inside a stentless 19-mm bioprosthesis. The current report presents the challenges related to ViV implantation inside a small stentless bioprosthesis and offers practical ways to overcome them.