Usefulness of Predilation Before Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation

Balloon predilation is historically considered a requirement before performing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). As the procedure has evolved, it has been questioned whether it is actually needed, but data are lacking on mid-term outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of balloon predilation before TAVI. A total of 517 patients who underwent transfemoral TAVI from November 2007 to October 2015 were analyzed. The devices implanted included the Medtronic CoreValve (n = 216), Medtronic Evolut R (n = 30), Edwards SAPIEN XT (n = 210), and Edwards SAPIEN 3 (n = 61). Patients were divided into 2 groups depending on whether pre-implantation balloon aortic valvuloplasty (pre-BAV) was performed (n = 326) or not (n = 191). Major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) were primarily evaluated. Propensity score matching was used to adjust for differences in baseline characteristics and potential confounders (n = 113 pairs). In the overall cohort, patients without pre-BAV had a significantly higher MACCE rate at 30 days, driven by a higher incidence of stroke (0.3% pre-BAV vs 3.7% no-pre-BAV, p