Background: There are limited invasive treatment options for patients with end-stage heart failure and left ventricular assist device (LVAD) who develop severe aortic valve regurgitation (AR). One option for such patients is transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). There are limited data on outcomes of patients with LVAD who receive TAVR for severe AR. We present a series of 4 consecutive patients with LVAD who underwent TAVR for severe AR.
Methods and results: This is a retrospective chart review of 4 consecutive patients with LVAD who underwent TAVR for severe AR. All 4 patients underwent TAVR with a 34-mm self-expanding valve (Medtronic). One patient received a 29-mm balloon-expandable valve (Edwards Lifesciences) within the self-expanding valve (SEV) to postdilate the SEV and minimize paravalvular leak (PVL). All 4 procedures were technically successful. The patient who received rescue valve-in-valve TAVR continued to have persistent mild to moderate PVL.
Conclusion: Although technically challenging, TAVR is a feasible option for carefully selected LVAD patients with severe AR. Procedural issues to consider include oversizing the transcatheter heart valve (THV) while being cognizant of the risks of annular rupture and valve dislocation, anticipating and avoiding ventricular migration of the THV and being ready to postdilate the THV if necessary, to limit hemodynamically significant PVL.
Keywords: aortic incompetence; continuous-flow left ventricular assist device; end-stage heart failure; transcatheter aortic valve implantation.