Transcatheter aortic valve replacement program development: recommendations for best practice.

Background: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is an increasingly available therapy for the management of aortic stenosis in higher risk populations. Beyond addressing the procedural challenges, centers must attend to the unique requirements of developing TAVR programs from referral to follow-up.

Aim: The aim of this article is to outline the recommendations for best practice for program development from centers with early and extensive experience.

Immediate post-operative responses to transcatheter aortic valve implantation: An observational study.

Background: Conventional treatment for patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis is surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR), but transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has become a reliable alternative in high-risk patients.

Aims: The aim of our study was to describe the post-operative patient response to TAVI on the evening of the procedure and the following day before discharge from the coronary care unit. A secondary aim was to compare responses of patients younger and older than 80 years of age.

Substance use, dental hygiene, and physical activity in adult patients with single ventricle physiology.

Objectives: The study aims to describe substance use, dental hygiene, and physical activity in adult survivors with single ventricle physiology (SVP) and to compare the behaviors with matched controls, while the patients are particularly at risk for general health problems.

Design: The present study is part of a larger research project on long-term outcomes in adult patients with SVP. A cross-sectional, case-control study including 59 patients out of 83 eligible patients participated in the study (response rate 71%).

Explanatory value of the Ability Index as assessed by cardiologists and patients with congenital heart disease.

Introduction: The Ability Index was developed to classify patients with congenital heart disease into four functional classes. Functional class is typically determined by the cardiologist, based on data from a clinical interview. The validity of the Ability Index as assessed by the patient has never been scrutinized.

Patient-reported outcomes in adult survivors with single-ventricle physiology.

Objectives: Data on patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in patients with single-ventricle physiology (SVP) are scarce. We sought (1) to describe the perceived health status, quality of life, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and sense of coherence in adult survivors with SVP, (2) to compare PROs across functional classes, and (3) to compare PROs between patients and controls.

Methods: A case-control study in two adult congenital heart programmes with 62 adult survivors with SVP were matched to 172 healthy controls.