Usefulness of Doppler echocardiography guidance during balloon aortic valvuloplasty for the treatment of congenital aortic stenosis

Background: Severe congenital aortic stenosis in infants is a life-threatening congenital heart anomaly that is typically treated using percutaneous balloon aortic valvuloplasty.Methods: The usual route is the femoral artery under radiographic guidance. However, this procedure may be limited by the small size of the femoral artery in low-weight infants. An infant weighing only 7 kg with severe aortic stenosis (peak gradient was 103 mmHg) was successfully treated with a novel approach, that is trans-ascending aorta balloon aortic valvuloplasty guided by transesophageal echocardiography.Results: The patient tolerated the procedure well, and no major complications developed. After the intervention, transesophageal echocardiography indicated a significant reduction of the aortic valvular peak gradient from 103 mmHg to 22 mmHg, no aortic regurgitation was found. Eighteen months after the intervention, echocardiography revealed that the aortic valvular peak gradient had increased to 38 mmHg and that still no aortic regurgitation had occurred.Conclusions: In our limited experience, trans-ascending aorta balloon aortic valvuloplasty for severe aortic stenosis under transesophageal echocardiography guidance effectively reduces the aortic peak gradient. As this is a new procedure, long-term follow up and management will need to be established. It may be an alternative technique to treat congenital aortic stenosis in low-weight patients.

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Abstract 19440: Reintervention Rates Following Balloon Aortic Valvuloplasty versus Surgical Valve Repair in Isolated Congenital Aortic Valve Stenosis - A Meta-analysis

Circulation ◽

10.1161/circ.132.suppl_3.19440 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 132 (suppl_3) ◽

Author(s):

May T Saung ◽

Courtney McCracken ◽

Ritu Sachdeva ◽

Christopher J Petit

Keyword(s):

Aortic Valve ◽

Aortic Stenosis ◽

Aortic Valve Stenosis ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Valve Repair ◽

Balloon Aortic Valvuloplasty ◽

Congenital Aortic Stenosis ◽

Primary Indication ◽

Aortic Valvuloplasty

Introduction: The optimal treatment for congenital aortic stenosis (AS) is debated despite decades of experience with both balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV) and surgical aortic valve repair (SAV). While BAV has been the mainstay of therapy for AS, recent single-center reports suggest optimal results following SAV. Hypothesis: We propose that reintervention rates following SAV and BAV are equivalent. Methods: We queried Medline, EMBASE and Web of Science for eligible studies using the keywords: “congenital aortic stenosis”, “balloon valvotomy”, “aortic valve stenosis surgery” and “treatment outcome or reintervention”. Studies were excluded when cohort size was <20 pts, when follow-up was < 2.5 yrs from primary intervention, and when primary indication was not AS (e.g. SAV in the setting of aortic valve regurgitation (AR)). Outcomes analyzed included death, reintervention and moderate or severe AR. Analysis was performed using Comprehensive Meta Analysis v3 using random effects models. Results: A total of 20 studies were included in our meta-analysis: SAV alone (n=3), BAV alone (n=12), and both (n=5). The mean age at BAV was 3.1 years (range, 4 days - 7 years) with a mean follow-up duration of 6.8 years, while mean age at SAV was 2.8 years (range, 14.2 days - 7.1 years) with a mean follow-up duration of 9.1 years. Mortality rates following BAV and SAV were 12.3% (95% CI: 7.7 - 19.1) and 10.2% (95% CI: 7.0 - 14.5), respectively (p=0.27). Reintervention following initial procedure for treatment of AS was higher following BAV (35.7% [95% CI: 29 - 43.1]) compared to SAV (25.2% [95% CI: 19.9 - 31.3])(p=0.012). Long-term and mid-term follow-up in these studies showed moderate to severe AR was present in 24.1% and 28.1% of BAV and SAV patients, respectively. Conclusions: Notwithstanding publication bias, both survival rates and development of late AR following BAV and SAV are similar. However, reintervention rates are significantly higher following BAV compared to SAV.

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