Transcatheter cardiac interventions are a fast evolving field. The past decade has seen the development of transcatheter aortic valve replacement, transcatheter mitral valve repair and replacement, septal defect closure devices and left atrial appendage closure devices for thromboprophylaxis.

Transcather Cardiac Therapeutics Overview

Once the dominion of surgical procedures only, these interventions hold promise of improved outcomes for patients considered too high risk for to undergo surgry (high STS score) and less invasive procedures for everyone.

While not without its own set of complications, it offers benefits for patients who may have gone without treatment when surgery was the only option. Major advancements and high-quality studies will be available over the next decade.

Key Readings

  1. Gilard M, Eltchaninoff H, Iung B, et al. Registry of transcatheter aortic-valve implantation in high-risk patients. N Engl J Med 2012;366:1705–15.
  2. Mylotte D, Osnabrugge RL, Windecker S, et al. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement in europe: Adoption trends and factors influencing device utilization. J Am Coll Cardiol 2013;62:210–9.