Transfemoral Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation at Hospitals Without On-Site Cardiac Surgery (TAVI at Home): A Multicenter Prospective Interventional Study

Abstract

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has become the standard of care for elderly patients with aortic stenosis. International guidelines recommend that TAVI should be performed only in centers with on-site cardiac surgery (CS). However, rapidly evolving TAVI technology and increasing operator expertise have significantly reduced peri-procedural complications, including those requiring rescue surgery, which occur in less than 0.5% of cases. Furthermore, only a minority of major complications are treated with CS, and the outcomes remain unfavorable. TAVI in centers without CS could represent a solution to reduce waiting times and ensure continuity of care for fragile patients. “TAVI at Home” is a single-arm prospective interventional study. According to sample size calculations based on literature data, the study aims to enroll a total of 200 patients, beginning with a run-in phase of 20 patients to establish safety. The primary endpoint is 30-day all-cause mortality. Secondary endpoints include technical success and the evaluation of single complications 30 days after the procedure. Hospitals without CS that are eligible to perform TAVI must have a high volume of coronary percutaneous interventions, operators with established TAVI experience, collaboration with vascular surgeons, and regular Heart Team meetings to ensure rigorous patient selection.

Keywords

• aortic valve stenosis
• transcatheter aortic valve implantation
• heart team