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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An updated look at combining LAAO with ablation, TAVR or other interventional heart procedures

Performing two procedures at once does not appear to make a significant impact on patient safety, though it may lead to a few new risks sure to interest heart teams. 

January 23, 2024
Pi-Cardia ShortCut TAVR device. According to Pi-Cardia, ShortCut is the first medical device of its kind; interventional cardiologists use it to split valve leaflets in patients who have been recommended for valve-in-valve TAVR and face a heightened coronary obstruction risk.

FDA grants new valve-in-valve TAVR offering its breakthrough device designation

The new device was designed to help clinicians perform valve-in-valve TAVR on certain high-risk patients. One cardiologist familiar with the technology said it could be easily added to any preexisting TAVR workflow. 

January 23, 2024
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Valve-in-valve TAVR with Medtronic’s CoreValve devices still safe and effective after 5 years

Researchers tracked five-year data from more than 200 patients, sharing their findings in the American Journal of Cardiology.

January 22, 2024
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TAVR in patients with severe obesity: Longer hospital stays, higher costs, more health risks

The CDC defines severe obesity, or class III obesity, as any patient with a BMI of 40 or higher. TAVR among these patients is not associated with a lower survival rate, but it does lead to many more risks.

January 19, 2024
Illustration of a left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) procedure using a Watchman device. Image courtesy of Johns Hopkins Medicine. #LAA #LAAO

ICE-guided Watchman procedures linked to safety concerns—is TEE better for LAAO or will things improve?

TEE and ICE are each associated with certain advantages and disadvantages, researchers explained. The new analysis included data from nearly 40,000 patients.

January 19, 2024
money business cash flow dollar. Kingsway Financial Services, a Chicago-based holding company with subsidiaries in several industries, has acquired New Jersey-based Digital Diagnostics Imaging (DDI) for $11 million. The transaction was funded with $5.4 million in cash and $5.6 million in debt financing.

Integer acquires medical device specialists with experience in structural heart, electrophysiology for $140M

Integer's estimated 2023 sales nearly reached $1.6 billion, up 16% compared to 2022. According to the company's statement, this acquisition helps expand its footprint in several key markets. 

January 17, 2024
Self-expandable TAVR cusp-overlap ICE

ICE guidance reduces risk of permanent pacemaker implantation after TAVR with a self-expandable valve

Heart teams can limit the risk of conduction disturbances that lead to permanent pacemaker implantation by utilizing both the cusp-overlap method and intracardiac echocardiography.

January 17, 2024
2024 has been a banner year for structural heart treatments, especially those focused on the tricuspid valve. In February, for example, Edwards Lifesciences made history when its Evoque transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR) system became the first device of its kind to gain U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for treating tricuspid regurgitation (TR). Two months later, Abbott’s TriClip transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) system also gained FDA approval for the treatment of TR.

Valve-in-valve TAVR an effective tool for treating structural valve degeneration after SAVR

With heart teams performing valve-in-valve TAVR more and more, researchers wanted to take a fresh look at patient outcomes. Overall, they found, the procedure was linked to a low mortality rate and fewer permanent pacemakers than native-valve TAVR.

January 16, 2024
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