Aortic stenosis causes impaired outflow of blood from the heart and is usually progressive. The increased cardiac workload leads to left ventricular hypertrophy, arrhythmias, and may lead to life-threatening heart failure. Symptoms of aortic stenosis typically include shortness of breath and chest pain on exertion. Conventional treatment for severe symptomatic aortic stenosis is surgical aortic valve replacement.
Medical comorbidities, or technical considerations such as a calcified aorta or scarring from previous cardiac surgery, can make surgical aortic valve replacement unsuitable for some patients. Continued medical care may be the only option for some patients whose condition is unsuitable for surgery. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) for aortic stenosis is an alternative for patients in whom surgery is contraindicated or for whom the risks of surgery are high, but it…
