Cardiologists perform first TAVR of its kind by anchoring valve to crushed stent

After traversing the aortic cusp with an electrified wire and balloon inflation, a stent is positioned inside the noncoronary cusp and deployed. Immediately after, a transcatheter aortic valve is expanded, and the stent is crushed on the left ventricular outflow tract wall and annulus, while anchored to the aortic valve leaflet.

The ATLAS strategy for TAVR: After traversing the aortic cusp with an electrified wire and balloon inflation, a stent is positioned inside the noncoronary cusp and deployed. Immediately after, a transcatheter aortic valve is expanded, and the stent is crushed on the left ventricular outflow tract wall and annulus, while anchored to the aortic valve leaflet. Graphic and caption courtesy of JACC: Case Reports, Dvir et al.

The patient, 78, presented with severe AR and no signs of calcification. She was considered a poor choice for surgery or traditional TAVR due to multiple risks. That is where the new-look ATLAS technique came in.