STATE OF ART ON TRANSCATHETER AORTIC VALVE IMPLANTATION (TAVI) FOR THE TREATMENT OF AORTIC STENOSIS

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) technique represents a real revolution in the field of interventional cardiology and medicine, in particularly for the treatment of aortic valve stenosis in elderly patients, or in patients when the periprocedural risk for the traditional surgical option is considered too high, as an alternative to the traditional aortic valve replacement. From the year 2002, when Cribier, in France, performed the first transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), in a period of just over a decade, this technique has become a reality in clinical practice of cardiologists interventionists worldwide. The data of follow-up in the long term are currently available mainly for the valves of the first generation. These data show an excellent, also at long term, hemodynamic performance. Although experience on the valves of the last generation is still limited in time, the data currently available are definitely in the direction of a minimum hospital mortality (1%), as well as to a drastic reduction in the incidence of complications, compared to the devices of the previous generation. Finally, the evolution of specified materials of the newest generation have greatly enhanced safety and efficacy of TAVI procedures in the last years