Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has become a common theraputic option for aortic stenosis, but the evidence for precise anatomy for TAVR is accumulating. This paper presents the case of an 71-year-old female patient who had an extremely high risk of coronary obstruction due to both coronary ostia lying too low. The patient underwent TAVR with the help of coronary protection successfully. During the procedure, the patient was protected with wires only for both coronaries. After deployment, angiofluoroscopy suggested that chimney stenting should be applied for left coronary. The whole procedure was unenventful and both coronaries were seen.
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a reasonable alternative for patients with severe aortic stenosis who are at a medium or high risk from surgery, and it’s gradually extended to low-risk groups. The safety of surgery is confirmed with the advancement of technology and the improvement of surgical instruments, but surgical complications are still common. Cardiovascular collapse is the leading cause of death during the surgery and not rare. This article reported a case of cardiovascular collapse during TAVR who were successfully rescued, while literature review on the causes and treatment of cardiovascular collapse were made.
Due to the lack of calcification of the aortic valve, it is difficult to provide effective support for the fixation of artificial valve in aortic stenosis characterized by leaflet thickening. There is a risk of postoperative perivalvular leakage and secondary valve implantation, which is widely regarded as a relative contraindication for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). But aortic valvuloplasty and self-expanding transcatheter aortic valve has showed its safety and efficacy. This paper reports a patient with bicuspid aortic valve characterized by leaflet thickening treated with TAVR. After the operation, the patient’s symptom of exertional dyspnea was significantly improved, New York Heart Association class increased to Ⅱ, no perivalvular leakage was found, and the mean transaortic pressure gradient and the maximum aortic valve velocity decreased significantly.
This paper discusses a female patient with severe aortic stenosis, who was preoperatively assessed to be at high risk of left coronary artery occlusion, but developed complete occlusion of the right coronary artery during the procedure of transcatheter aortic valve replacement, leading to hemodynamic disorder. Surgical treatment under emergency cardiopulmonary bypass played a critical role in rescuing the patient.
Objective To investigate the role and mechanism of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) in the activation of aortic valve interstitial cells (AVICs) in aortic stenosis. Methods Isolating primary AVICs and stimulating their activation with transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1, 30 ng/mL), the expression of PGC-1α was detected. The activation of AVICs induced by TGF-β1 was observed after overexpression of PGC-1α by adenovirus or inhibition of PGC-1α function by GW9662. The possible downstream molecular mechanism of PGC-1α in AVICs activation was screened. Finally, the phenotype was further verified in primary human AVICs. Results The expression of PGC-1α decreased after the activation of AVICs induced by TGF-β1 (control group: 1.00±0.18; 24 h: 0.31±0.10; 48 h: 0.32±0.06; 72 h: 0.20±0.07; P<0.05). Specific overexpression of PGC-1α by adenovirus inhibited the activation of AVICs induced by TGF-β1 stimulation (periostin: 3.17±0.64 vs. 1.45±0.54, P<0.05; α-smooth muscle actin: 0.77±0.11 vs. 0.28±0.06, P<0.05). On the contrary, inhibition of PGC-1α function by GW9662 promoted the activation of AVICs (periostin: 2.20±0.68 vs. 7.99±2.50, P<0.05). Subsequently, it was found that PGC-1α might inhibit the activation of AVICs through downregulating the expression of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CAMK1δ) (0.97±0.04 vs. 0.74±0.11, P<0.05), and downregulating the expression of CAMK1δ alleviated the activation of AVICs (periostin: 1.76±0.11 vs. 0.99±0.20, P<0.05). The possible mechanism was that the activation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway was inhibited by reducing the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (778.3±139.4 vs. 159.3±43.2, P<0.05). Finally, the protective effect of PGC-1α overexpression was verified in the activated phenotype of human AVICs (periostin: 2.73±0.53 vs. 1.63±0.14, P<0.05; connective tissue growth factor: 1.27±0.04 vs. 0.48±0.09, P<0.05). Conclusions The expression of PGC-1α significantly decreases during the activation of AVICs induced by TGF-β1. The overexpression of PGC-1α significantly inhibites the activation of AVICs, suggesting that PGC-1α plays a protective role in the activation of AVICs. The possible mechanism is that PGC-1α can inhibit the activation of CAMK1δ-ROS-mTOR pathway. In conclusion, interventions based on PGC-1α expression levels are new potential therapeutic targets for aortic stenosis.
Objective To explore the safety and feasibility of general anesthesia with tracheal intubation in transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), and the key points in anesthetic management. Methods Twenty-five patients with aortic stenosis treated by TAVI in West China Hospital of Sichuan University between September 2012 and June 2013 were included in this study. General anesthesia with tracheal intubation was chosen. We recorded and analyzed the hemodynamics, blood gas, oxygen saturation data before and after anesthesia induction, before surgery, during rapid ventricular pacing, before and after aortic valve implantation. Besides, the incidence of perioperative complications and 30-day mortality were also recorded. Results All the 25 patients underwent the implantation surgery successfully. Two patients had the second implantation surgery due to moderate reflux. All the subjects in this study tolerated general anesthesia well without any anesthesia-related complications. There were 19 cases of newly developed or aggravated heart blocks, 7 of permanent pace maker, 2 of perioperative hemorrhage, 2 of cerebral vascular events, and 1 death case. Conclusioins General anesthesia with tracheal intubation can be utilized safely in patients undergoing TAVI. TAVI is a challenging technique in need of precise collaborations of multi-disciplines, in which anesthetists should play more as a leader in evaluation and decision-making during the surgery.
This case was a 58-year-old female patient with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) and severe aortic stenosis. Upon admission, she had severe heart failure and severe edema of both lower extremities unable to lie flat. After cardiac function adjustment and under general anesthesia, she underwent a one-stop operation of PDA occlusion and transcarotid transcatheter aortic valve replacement due to the severe aortic arch stenosis which brought high risk in transfemoral artery approach. Her symptoms improved significantly, and she was discharged only 6 days after operation. At the follow-up 3 months after operation, the aortic valve transvalvular pressure gradient improved significantly, the ductus arteriosus murmur disappeared, and the patient recovered well.
Nowadays, aortic bioprostheses are used more and more widely in clinical practice, but the valve will experience structural valve degradation over time, and eventually lose its function, which is valve failure. Valve failure has become a significant challenge for aortic valve replacement and especially limits the expansion of indications for transcatheter aortic valve replacement. This review focuses on the current status and relevant evidence on the definition, risk factors, epidemiological characteristics, diagnosis and evaluation, treatment strategies of aortic bioprostheses failure. The purpose is to provide a basis for a more comprehensive understanding of aortic bioprostheses failure, finding better coping strategies and further improving the long-term durability of the valve.
Valvular heart disease (VHD) is a common cardiac disease. Patients with severe VHD have a poor prognosis. With the development of minimal invasive treatments in VHD, especially with the wide application of transcatheter aortic valve replacement in aortic stenosis, these diseases have been regained attention. The disease spectrum and modes of treatment have also changed. However, we currently lack a large population-based VHD-related epidemiologic study in China. In this article, we will summarize the current status of VHD in China using available epidemiologic data.
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has become a well-established treatment for patients with severe aortic stenosis. At present, TAVR has already shown noninferiority and even superiority to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in patients deemed at high or intermediate risk for SAVR. However, the long-term follow-up results of the randomized controlled trials comparing the efficacy and safety between TAVR and SAVR are still lacking in those patients who are at low risk for SAVR. This paper gives an overview and reviews results of the Evolut Low Risk trial and interprets its implications for transcatheter therapy in aortic valve diseases.