SENILE CALCIFIC AORTIC VALVE STENOSIS: MODERN INTERVENTIONS IN UKRAINE

Abstract

Background. Aortic valve stenosis remains the most dominant form of valvular heart disease. The aortic valve area below 1.0 cm2 is an assignment to the interventions. The modern senile aortic valve stenosis treatment options are mini-surgical valve replacement (mini-SVR), balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV), and transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). This study aims to inform readers about up-to-date interventions for patients with senile calcific aortic valve stenosis in Ukraine, based on the experience of the Cardiac surgery department in Lviv, Ukraine. Methods. From a single-centre retrospective registry (10/2015-02/2022), 204 patients were included. One hundred seven patients underwent mini-SVR, tree BAV, and four – TAVI. Diagnostic modalities used to assess the anatomy of the aortic valve were: ECHO, ECG-gated computer tomography with aortic valve calcic scoring, and Angiography. Interventional procedure techniques were BAV, TAVI; surgical: mini-SVR via upper ministernotomy or right-sided minithoracotomy. Results. Anatomical assessment of the aortic valve in senile aortic valve stenosis was based on the morphology of the aortic valve (bicuspid or tricuspid aortic valve), asymmetrical hypertrophy of the left ventricular outflow tract, and coronary ostia height. The age-related anatomical features were calcium deposits in the leaflet, coronary ostium and mitral annular calcification. Ministernotomy (in 67 cases) and a right-sided minithoracotomy (in 40 cases) were performed to secure the “heart step” without instability of the chest cage with the smaller valve size implantation than was expected before. Preserving the chest cage and avoiding aortic cross-clamp/cardio-pulmonary bypass were advantages of TAVI. Fragile patients expected TAVI risks: aortic root damage, paravalvular leak, moderate aortic insufficient, the risk of atrioventricular block and embolic stroke, and kidney dysfunction. Conclusions. Mini-surgical valve replacement and transcatheter aortic valve implantation are accessible procedures in Ukraine for senile calcific aortic valve stenosis treatment.