First-in-Human Valve-in-Valve Implantation of a 20 mm Balloon Expandable Transcatheter Heart Valve

An 86-year-old lady with recurrent admissions for heart failure due to a severely regurgitant aortic bioprosthesis (SJM Epic 19 mm) was not a candidate for re-operation due to age and frailty. Her small ilio-femoral arteries precluded a transfemoral transcatheter valve-in-valve (VIV) approach. The small internal diameter of her bioprosthesis (16 mm) forbids the implantation of the smallest available transapical transcatheter heart valve (THV). We, therefore, decided to perform a first-in-human transapical aortic VIV implantation using a 20 mm balloon expandable THV and a transfemoral delivery system. The procedure was successfully performed under general anesthesia, without any contrast dye and under fluoroscopy as well as transesophageal echocardiography guidance. The post-procedural transvalvular gradient was 15 mm Hg (pre-procedural 14 mm Hg). At 30-day follow-up, the lady was living independently at home without shortness of breath during her daily activities. If redo-surgery for prosthetic regurgitation is not an option, VIV implantation in very small surgical bioprosthesis is feasible and leads to acceptable hemodynamics and clinical improvement. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.