• Mariam Samim, Pieter R Stella, Pierfrancesco Agostoni, Jolanda Kluin, Faiz Ramjankhan, Gertjan Sieswerda, Ricardo Budde, Marijke van der Linden, Francis Juthier, Carlo Banfi, Christopher Hurt, Morsal Samim, Marieke Hillaert, Lex van Herwerden, Michel E Bertrand, Pieter A M Doevendans, and Eric Van Belle.
• Department of Cardiology, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
• J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg.. 2013 Feb 1;145(2):398-405.

ObjectiveModerate to severe aortic regurgitation is occurring in 20% to 30% of cases after transcatheter aortic valve implantation.MethodsThe purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of a prospective policy of "oversizing" the Edwards SAPIEN bioprosthesis (Edwards Lifesciences LLC, Irvine, Calif) relative to the diameter of the aortic annulus on the rate and severity of aortic regurgitation in 28 consecutive patients initially considered eligible for transcatheter aortic valve implantation on the basis of angiography, multislice computed tomography, and transthoracic echocardiography. This policy included the systematic use of transesophageal echocardiography to exclude borderline patients and the modification of the procedure to use the larger device possible. The results were studied on an individual patient basis.ResultsBecause 6 of 28 patients (21%) had an annulus diameter greater than 24 mm by transesophageal echocardiography, 22 patients underwent implantation of the Edwards SAPIEN prosthesis. In 6 of 22 patients, the procedure was adapted to follow our "oversizing" policy. As a result, the "prosthesis/annulus cover index" was 12.4% ± 4.3%. The procedure was successful in 21 of 22 patients (95%), and 18 patients were available for echocardiography at 1 month. Although a moderate to severe aortic regurgitation was observed pretreatment in 4 of 18 patients (22%), it was no longer the case at 1 month (0/18, 0%; P = .03). The improvement was secondary to a disappearance of the aortic regurgitation in all 7 patients with a significant aortic regurgitation at pretreatment, whereas the new aortic regurgitations appearing in 5 of the 11 patients with no aortic regurgitation at pretreatment were only mild aortic regurgitations.ConclusionsIn patients with a successful implantation of an Edwards SAPIEN valve, a simple "oversizing" policy based on a systematic use of transesophageal echocardiography and modification of the procedure may prevent the occurrence of moderate and severe aortic regurgitations.Copyright © 2013 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

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