"We have a pretty good idea before we ever walk into the room what the patient is a candidate for, on the basis of not only on the echo and CT scan, but also the frailty testing. This used to take a long time, but we see virtually eye to eye now and it requires no consultation outside the patient’s view to decide what we think the best option is," Dr. Mack said. "I see the ceiling coming down. We are denying patients now that 2 or 3 years ago we didn’t, because we realize that although they can get through the procedure successfully, their functional quality outcomes and survival at 1 year are not great."
Dr. Mack reported that he is the recipient of a research grant from Edwards Lifesciences. Dr. Alexander disclosed that she serves as a consultant to Gilead and Pozen.