Structural Heart Disease

Structural heart diseases include any issues preventing normal cardiovascular function due to damage or alteration to the anatomical components of the heart. This is caused by aging, advanced atherosclerosis, calcification, tissue degeneration, congenital heart defects and heart failure. The most commonly treated areas are the heart valves, in particular the mitral and aortic valves. These can be replaced through open heart surgery or using cath lab-based transcatheter valves or repairs to eliminate regurgitation due to faulty valve leaflets. This includes transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Other common procedures include left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion and closing congenital holes in the heart, such as PFO and ASD. A growing area includes transcatheter mitral repair or replacement and transcatheter tricuspid valve repair and replacement.

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CABG, TAVR top list of most lucrative heart procedures for hospitals

Other procedures are associated with higher profits—heart transplants, for instance—but CABG and TAVR are performed much more often.

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Cardiologists recommend AVR for asymptomatic severe AS—TAVR and surgery both viable options

A trio of leading voices in cardiology reviewed years of data while considering their proposal. The choice between TAVR and SAVR, they added, should be made on a case-by-case basis.

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Physicians are leaning into supra-annular, self-expanding TAVR valves for women and small-annulus patients

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"The onus is on us as cardiologists to make sure we offer the very best possible devices for our patients with the available data that we have," interventional cardiologist Anene Ukaigwe, MD, explained. 

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Women with severe aortic stenosis remain underdiagnosed, undertreated—here’s how cardiologists can make a difference

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Women with cardiovascular disease are consistently underdiagnosed and undertreated compared to men, and those disparities are true for aortic stenosis as well. Women with symptomatic severe AS are up to 35% less likely than men to undergo aortic valve replacement, for example, and they often have to wait longer just to be referred for further care.

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Ross procedure linked to high levels of safety, effectiveness after 20 years

“It has the added advantage of avoiding oral anticoagulation drugs and the risks associated with lifelong anticoagulation," one researcher explained. "In fact, most of our patients are not on any cardiac medications following one year after surgery.”

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TAVR patients admitted on weekend face greater risk of death, complications

The so-called "weekend effect" seen with other cardiovascular diseases appears to exist for patients with severe aortic stenosis as well. 

D. Scott Lim, MD, medical director of the Advanced Cardiac Valve Center, and co-director of the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Center at University of Virginia (UVA) Health in Charlottesville, and an associate professor at the University British Columbia, explains how intracardiac echo (ICE) is increasingly being used to help guide structural heart procedures.

Key details on the use of ICE to guide structural heart procedures

Scott Lim, MD, details his experience using intracardiac echo to help guide structural heart procedures with or without traditional TEE. One key benefit of ICE, he explained, is its ability to overcome imaging challenges posed by prior cardiac surgeries.

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PCI before TAVR linked to better outcomes than performing both at once

Researchers explored data from more than 50,000 TAVR patients who presented with both severe aortic stenosis and stable coronary artery disease, sharing their findings in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions.

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