BASILICA was considered for the 67-year-old female patient, but UNICORN was seen as an overall better option. The full case study was published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions.

Brian Lindman, MD, medical director of the Structural Heart and Valve Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, explains the new American Heart Association (AHA) Target Aortic Stenosis (AS) program to screen with echo to find more AS patients. 

Atrial fibrillation and peripheral artery disease, for example, are both predictors of mortality among women, but not men. 

“Because patients with aortic stenosis are old and commonly have chronic kidney disease, it is essential to evaluate the renal function before TAVR," the study's authors wrote. “Albuminuria indicates glomerular injury and is an important factor in the assessment of renal function or diagnosis of chronic kidney disease."

The conventional transfemoral approach is not always possible during TAVR procedures, leaving care teams with an important decision to make. 

Diabetes and atrial fibrillation are just some of the factors that can increase a patient's risk of being hospitalized for heart failure within one year of undergoing a successful TAVR procedure.