Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation for Stenosed and Regurgitant Aortic Valve Bioprostheses: CoreValve for Failed Bioprosthetic Aortic Valve Replacements

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation is increasingly being used to treat severe aortic stenosis in patients with high operative risk. In an aging population the incidence of aortic stenosis is rising, and increasing numbers of elderly patients are undergoing aortic valve replacement with bioprosthetic valves. Therefore, there is a corresponding increase in prosthetic degeneration. This presents cardiologists with a cohort of patients for whom the risk of re-do aortic valve surgery is prohibitive. We present the first series of such patients with degenerative bioprosthetic stenosis or regurgitation successfully treated with CoreValve (Medtronic, Luxembourg) implantation.