Transcatheter aortic valve replacement has revolutionized the management of aortic stenosis and become the gold standard for the treatment of symptomatic and severe aortic valve stenosis in elderly patients. With the improvement in design and materials, newer generation transcatheter aortic valve prostheses had overcome the limitations of early-generation devices that were susceptible to paravalvular leak, atrioventricular block and vascular complications, to a certain extent. This review provides an update on the latest advances in transcatheter aortic valve prostheses.
Mitral regurgitation is the most common cardiac valve disease, with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) is used as a promising intervention in non-surgical patients and in those with unsuitable anatomy for transcatheter edge-to-edge repair. TMVR can also be performed for inoperable or high-risk patients with degenerated or failed bioporstheses or failed repairs, or in patients with severe annular calcifications. The complex anatomy of the mitral valves makes the design of transcatheter mitral valve prostheses extremely challenging, and increases the difficulty of TMVR procedure, thus could led to non-negligible complications including periprocedural and post-procedural long-term complications. This review aims to discuss the potential TMVR-complications and measures implemented to mitigate these complications, in order to improve the prognosis of TMVR patients.
Objective To investigate the prevalence and predisposing factors of gastroesophageal reflux（GER）in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease（COPD）and its impacts on the frequency of COPD exacerbations.Methods 50 patients with acute exacerbation of COPD were enrolled in the study.All patients filled a modified version of clinically validated standardized Mayo Clinic GER questionnaire.Pulmonary function tests（PFT），body mass index（BMI），serum albumin，and medications were recorded.The patients were divided in to GER group（13 patients with GER symptoms longer than one year and diagnosed GER by gastroscope） and non-GER group（37 patients without GER symptoms）.Results There were no significant differences in the BMI，serum albumin，use of inhaled steroids and theophylline between the two groups.Forced expiratory volume in one second as a percentage of the predicted value（FEV1%pred）（37% vs 38.3%，P=0.608.），residual volume % predicted（123.4 % vs 137.8%，P=0.222），and residual volume to total lung capacity（139.4% vs 141.5%，P=0.798） were not significantly different between the two groups.The number of COPD exacerbations per year was significantly higher in patients with GER compared to patients without GER（4.5 vs 1.3，P=0.006）.Conclusions The severity of airflow obstruction and the hyperinflation is unlikely to contribute to the development of GER.Patients with GER experience significantly more exacerbations per year when compared to patients without GER，suggesting more highlight warrant in treatment of GER in COPD patients.
Over the past 20 years, transcatheter mitral valve edge-to-edge repair (TEER) has become an important treatment option for patients with severe mitral regurgitation (MR) who are at high surgical risk. Initially, several landmark clinical studies established the basis of TEER for primary and secondary MR, but they only involved clinically stable patients with appropriate mitral valve anatomy. With the increasing experience of interventional therapy, the iteration of equipment and the improvement of intraoperative imaging technology, the scope of use of TEER has been continuously expanded, and its indications have been continuously expanded to more complex mitral valve lesions and clinical situations. Therefore, in clinical practice, selecting the appropriate device according to the individual anatomical characteristics of the patient can minimize MR and complications, thereby optimizing immediate and long-term prognosis. This article mainly introduces the pathogenesis and related mechanisms of MR, the main TEER devices and their clinical evidence, the limitations of TEER, and the future development direction.
ObjectiveTo develop an experimental model of gastroesophageal reflux-induced esophageal stricture in rats and explore the mechanism of esophageal stricture. MethodsA total of 30 male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats by random number table method were randomly divided into three groups as follows: an operation+acid perfusion group, first the models of lower esophageal sphincter relaxation and hiatal hernia were made, and then the rats’ esophagus were perfused with hydrochloric acid-pepsin; acid perfusion group, the rats’ esophagus were directly perfused with hydrochloric acid-pepsin; and control group, rats’ esophagus were perfused with normal saline. After 4 weeks of continuous perfusion, the esophageal mucosal injury of SD rats in each group were observed, and the concentrations of inflammatory cytokines [tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18] in esophageal tissues were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. ResultsIn the operation+acid perfusion group, esophageal stricture was formed in 2 SD rats, but no esophageal stenosis was found in the acid perfusion group and the control group. The body weight of rats in the operation+acid perfusion group and the acid perfusion group were lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). The esophageal mucosal injury scores of rats in the operation+acid perfusion group and the acid perfusion group were higher than that in the control group (P<0.001), and the operation+acid perfusion group was higher than that in the acid perfusion group (P=0.014). The concentrations of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-18 in esophageal tissues were higher in the operation+acid perfusion group and the acid perfusion group than that in the control group (P<0.001), and the operation+acid perfusion group was higher than that in the acid perfusion group (P<0.001). ConclusionsThe anti-reflux barrier is an important part of preventing gastroesophageal reflux disease. The destruction of anti-reflux barrier, hydrochloric acid-pepsin perfusion and inflammatory cytokines jointly induced esophageal inflammation and injury, and even caused esophageal stricture.
Mitral regurgitation is the most prevalent valvular heart disease, with a poor prognosis that brings a heavy burden to population health and socio-economics. Transcatheter repair is a relatively mature technique for mitral regurgitation, but is strict in anatomical screening and the reduction of regurgitation is limited. With the advance in techniques and technology, transcatheter replacement has become an attractive treatment modality for mitral regurgitation in succession to transcatheter repair. At present, several replacement devices have initiated clinical trials to establish feasibility. Early data has shown that transcatheter replacement for mitral regurgitation is safe and effective, which needs to be confirmed with larger population and longer follow-up. Besides, some technical challenges remain to be addressed, in order to increase accessibility of this innovative technology.
In recent years, transcatheter mitral valve replacement is a focused issue in the field of valve intervention, which brings hope to mitral regurgitation patients who are not suitable for surgical thoracotomy. This paper presents the case of echocardiography-guided transseptal mitral valve replacement with the HighLife system in an elderly female patient with severe mitral regurgitation who failed to respond to standard medical therapy. During the procedure, echocardiography was used to guide the wire looping, cinching, atrial septal puncture, ring closure, atrial septal balloon dilatation, prosthetic valve implantation and immediate postoperative evaluation. Echocardiography plays an important role in transseptal mitral valve replacement, which can help the procedural process and improve the safety of the procedure.