Maciej Dąbrowski, Zenon Huczek, Marek Grygier, Artur Telichowski, Kajetan Grodecki, Damian Hudziak, Monika Gruz-Kwapisz, Marcin Protasiewicz, Jerzy Sacha, Piotr Scisło, Bartosz Rymuza, Krzysztof Wilczek, Wojciech Fil, Piotr Olszówka, Janusz Kochman, Dariusz Jagielak, Michał Zembala, Wojciech Wojakowski, Andrzej Walczak, Radosław Wilimski, Marek Frank, Jarosław Trębacz, Adam Witkowski, Radosław Gocoł, and Szymon Jędrzejczyk
INTRODUCTION Transcatheter aortic valve-in-valve implantation (ViV-TAVI) emerged recently as an alternative to re-do surgery for patients with failed surgical aortic valve (SAV). OBJECTIVES To evaluate the safety and efficacy of transcatheter aortic valves (TAV) in failed SAV in Poland. PATIENTS AND METHODS Data was acquired using a nationwide, multicenter (n=14) Polish Transcatheter Aortic Valve-in-Valve Implantation (ViV-TAVI) Registry (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier, NCT03361046) with online form collection and 1-year follow-up. RESULTS ViV-TAVI procedures (n=130) constituted 1.9% of all TAVI in Poland with increasing numbers since 2018 (n=59, 45% of all). Hancock II® (21%), Freestyle® (13%), and homograft (11.5%) were identified as the most frequently treated SAV's with self-expanding, supra-annular Corevalve/Evolut® TAV used in the majority of cases (76%). Average post-procedural pressure gradient (average PG) >20 mmHg was found in 21% and 1-year all-cause mortality was 10.8%. SAV stenosis compared to regurgitation/mixed disease was associated with higher average (16, IQR 13.5 - 22.5 vs 14.5, IQR 10-19 mmHg, p=0.004) whereas implantation of supra-annular TAV resulted in lower average PG (14, IQR 10.5-20 vs. intra-annular 19, IQR 16-26 mmHg, P=0.004). After introduction of 2nd generation TAV, shorter procedure time (120, IQR 80-165 min. vs. 135, IQR 108-200 min., P=0.04), less frequent need for additional TAV (2% vs. 10%, P=0.04) and better 1-year freedrom from cardiovascular deaths (95% vs. 82.8%, hazard ratio 0.25, 95% confidence intervals 0.17-0.88, P=0.03) was observed vs. 1st generation. CONCLUSIONS Transcatheter treatment of failed SAV is becoming more frequent, showing the best hemodynamic effect with the use of supra-annular TAV and improved procedural as well as clinical results with the introduction of 2nd generation TAV.