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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The SAPIEN 3 Ultra (S3U) transcatheter heart valve from Edwards Lifesciences is

TAVR outperforms SAVR when treating women, historic all-female trial confirms

The study, presented at ESC Congress 2024 in London, confirmed that TAVR was associated with significantly better outcomes than surgery when treating female patients. 

A TAVR procedure being performed at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. These structural heart procedures require a team approach.

TAVR complication rates keep falling, highlighting considerable progress

Complications are also down after SAVR, researchers noted, though the drop has been much more dramatic for TAVR patients. The new analysis was based on Medicare data from more than 210,000 patients.

ESC Congress 2023 in Amsterdam

AI for TAVR, robot-guided echo and more: Key research at ESC Congress 2024

ESC's annual meeting is always one of the world's largest gatherings of cardiologists and other cardiology professionals. This year's 4-day event will be no different. 

Renata Medical, a California-based healthcare technology company, has gained U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for a new stent specifically designed for pediatric patients with congenital heart defects. The Minima Growth Stent was built to treat newborns, infants and young children, and then it continues to expand as the patient ages

FDA approves new expanding stent for young children

The new interventional device from Renata Medical is designed to expand as young patients age, providing long-term relief. 

Boston Scientific TAVR ACURATE Prime Aortic Valve System

Boston Scientific’s new TAVR valve gains CE mark approval

The self-expanding Acurate Prime Aortic Valve System was designed with improved valve positioning in mind. According to Boston Scientific, it it will be available in more sizes than the company's previous TAVR device to ensure it can treat as many heart patients as possible. 

TCT 2023 crowd

CRF announces late-breaking clinical trials for TCT 2024

The Cardiovascular Research Foundation has announced 10 late-breaking clinical trials and 15 late-breaking clinical science sessions for TCT 2024 in Washington, DC. Topics will include TAVR and other structural heart procedures, artificial intelligence and much more. 

cardiologist viewing heart data

TAVR and SAVR linked to comparable long-term outcomes, new meta-analysis confirms

Researchers combined data from three well-known clinical trials—NOTION, Evolut Low Risk and PARTNER 3—and evaluated thousands of low-risk patients who presented with severe aortic stenosis. 

Treating atrial functional mitral regurgitation (AFMR) with surgery may be more beneficial than medical therapy alone, according to new data published in JAMA Network Open.[1]

Atrial functional mitral regurgitation: Surgery improves outcomes more than medical therapy alone

"These findings underscore the importance of understanding AFMR and its treatment options," one cardiologist said.

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