Cusp Symmetry and Coronary Ostial Eccentricity and its Impact on Coronary Access Following TAVR.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess cusp symmetry and coronary ostial eccentricity and its impact on coronary access following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) using a patient-specific commissural alignment implantation technique.
Background: TAVR implantation techniques to obtain neocommissural alignment have been introduced. The impact of cusp symmetry and coronary ostial eccentricity on coronary access after TAVR remains unknown.
Methods: Cardiac computed tomographic scans from 200 tricuspid aortic valves (TAVs) and 200 type 1 bicuspid aortic valves (BAVs) were studied. Cusp symmetry and coronary ostial eccentricity were assessed. In addition, the right coronary cusp/left coronary cusp and right coronary artery (RCA)/left coronary artery (LCA) ostia overlap views were calculated and compared.
Results: Severe cusp asymmetry (>135°) was more frequent in BAVs (52.5%) than in TAVs (2.5%) (P < 0.001), with the noncoronary cusp being the most common dominant cusp. The RCA ostium was found to be more often eccentric (>20°) than the LCA ostium (28% vs 6%, respectively; P < 0.001). Considering the right/left cusp overlap view, there was <20° deviation between the right coronary cusp-left coronary cusp centered line and the RCA-LCA centered line in 95% of all patients (TAV, 97%; BAV, 93%). The right/left cusp and coronary ostia overlap view differed by <10° and <20° fluoroscopic angulation in 75% and 98% of all cases, respectively.
Conclusions: Using the right/left cusp overlap view to obtain commissural alignment in TAVR is also an effective approach to implant one of the transcatheter heart valve commissures in the near center between both coronary ostia in most TAVs and type 1 BAVs. Preprocedural CT assessment remains crucial to assess cusp symmetry and coronary ostial eccentricity.
Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures Dr De Backer has received institutional research grants and consulting fees from Abbott and Boston Scientific. Dr Bieliauskas has received consulting fees from Abbott, Boston Scientific, and Medtronic. Dr Kofoed has received institutional grants from AP Møller og hustru Chastine McKinney Møllers Fond, the Meyer Foundation, the Danish Heart Foundation, the Danish Agency for Science, Technology, and Innovation by the Danish Council for Strategic Research, and Canon Medical. Dr Chen is the consultant for CardioFlow, Venus MedTech, and Peijia Medical. Dr Sondergaard has received institutional research grants and consulting fees from Abbott, Medtronic, Boston Scientific, and Edwards Lifesciences. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.
(Copyright © 2022 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)