One study presented during the three-day conference focused on the potential benefits of an optimized TAVR pathway. Another study, meanwhile, tracked changes in paravalvular leak severity over time.

Intravascular lithotripsy is still a safe and effective frontline preparation tool when PCI patients present with calcified nodules, a new two-year study confirmed. Researchers focused on stent expansion and luminal gain, among other key data points.

PPM is still relatively common after TAVR, especially among patients with a small aortic annulus. What can be done to minimize the risk of PPM? Does valve type play a role? Researchers explored those questions, and many others.

Abbott already has an FDA-approved self-expanding TAVR valve, the Navitor system, on the market. The company is now evaluating the safety and effectiveness of a new balloon-expandable device that could potentially be implanted using software guidance. 

The pressure changes associated with contrast injections are minimal, researchers noted, especially once you move away from the tip of the catheter. 

Charles E. Mullins, MD, a U.S. Army veteran who went on to practice medicine for five decades, died at the age of 92. SCAI shared a loving tribute to Mullins, calling him the "father of modern interventional pediatric cardiology."

The Sapien 3 Ultra Resilia TAVR valve from Edwards Lifesciences is associated with a significantly higher survival rate after one year than the company's previous balloon-expandable valves. Researchers identified other key benefits as well, sharing their findings in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions.

SCAI celebrated cardiologists William W. O'Neill, MD, and Cindy L. Grines, MD, for the important roles they played in the development of primary PCI. “It was challenging,” Grines explained. “We had the pharmaceutical industry that was anti-primary angioplasty and we had a lot of our own colleagues that were anti-primary angioplasty."