Paravalvular leak closure: work-up, techniques and results

Abstract

Paravalvular leak (PVL) is an uncommon, however, serious complication associated with prosthetic valve implantation. Although most PVLs are asymptomatic and have a benign clinical course, an estimated small percentage of patients with PVLs can lead to serious clinical consequences 1-3. Until recently, surgery has been the only available therapy for the treatment of clinically significant PVLs despite the significant mortality associated with reoperation 4. Percutaneous transcatheter closure, routinely applied in the management of various intracardiac defects, has been utilized for the treatment of PVLs using a variety of techniques 5. As a result, percutaneous PVL closure has been slowly evolving and is now successfully performed in a number of Heart centers with significant experience in structural cardiac intervention. Herein, we discuss the current understanding of PVLs, the utilization of multi-modality imaging in PVL diagnosis, treatment, the clinical results, and our initial experience.

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