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

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.

"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. 

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.

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

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.

Multiple studies over the years have linked PVL to an increased risk of adverse outcomes. New research out of Italy, however, suggests that device improvements made by Medtronic, Edwards Lifesciences and Boston Scientific may have reduced PVL's influence.

Surgery offers multiple long-term benefits when compared to a more interventional approach, though it is still associated with certain risks of its own. In the end, researchers agree, the decision is one that should involve input from surgeons, cardiologists and others.