VIDEO: CT and 3D-echo imaging boost TAVR performance

VIENNA – Transcatheter aortic valve replacement has benefited enormously from the recent introduction of CT and three-dimensional echocardiography imaging into routine preprocedural planning and periprocedural guidance.

These two imaging methods have allowed clinicians to better select the right valve size for each patient, and 3D echo performed during transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has also refined valve placement. The result has been TAVR procedures that go faster and have more accurate results while producing fewer complications, Dr. Rebecca Hahn said during an interview at the annual meeting of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging.

Perhaps the biggest impact of better valve-size selection and more detailed procedural guidance has been a reduced incidence and severity of paravalvular regurgitation once TAVR is complete and the replacement valve deployed. In recent months, Dr. Hahn and her associates at Columbia University Medical Center in New York have had no patients develop moderate or severe paravalvular regurgitation following TAVR, and the incidence of mild paravalvular leaks has dropped by about half, compared with when the procedure was first performed about 5 years ago, said Dr. Hahn, director of invasive and valvular echocardiography at Columbia.

mzoler@frontlinemedcom.com

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