Prosthesis Position after TAVI with Balloon-Expandable SAPIEN 3 in Bicuspid Aortic Valves

Abstract

Background: Prior data suggest a correlation between the position of transcatheter heart valves (THV) and the occurrence of complications after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in patients with tricuspid aortic valves (TAV). However, data including a detailed analysis of prosthesis positioning in bicuspid aortic valves (BAV) are limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate THV position after TAVI in BAV. Methods: We evaluated the THV position in 50 BAV and 50 TAV patients (all received the balloon-expandable Sapien 3 prosthesis) using fusion imaging of pre- and post-procedural computed tomography angiography. According to the manufacturers’ recommendations, a low implantation position was defined as >30% of the prosthesis below the annulus. Results: THV position was appropriate in the majority of the patients within both groups (90.0% for BAV vs. 96.0% for TAV, p = 0.240). In BAV, we observed a more pronounced THV waist (7.4 ± 4.5% vs. 5.8 ± 3.0%, p = 0.043) and a lower average THV expansion (91.9 ± 12.2% vs. 95.5 ± 2.7% of nominal expansion, p = 0.044). Conclusions: Accurate positioning in relation to the aortic annulus of the TAVI Sapien 3 prosthesis is possible in patients with BAV with results comparable to TAV. However, there is a more pronounced prosthesis waist and a lower average THV expansion in BAV.

Keywords

• transcatheter aortic valve implantation
• TAVI
• bicuspid aortic valves
• prosthesis positioning
• computed tomography angiography
• fusion imaging