Impact of permanent pacemaker implantation on clinical outcome among patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Objectives: This study sought to assess the impact of permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation on clinical outcomes among patients undergoing transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).

Background: TAVI is associated with atrioventricular-conduction abnormalities requiring PPM implantation in up to 40% among patients treated with self-expanding prostheses.

Methods: Between 2007 and 2010, 353 consecutive patients (mean age: 82.

Aortic regurgitation index defines severity of peri-prosthetic regurgitation and predicts outcome in patients after transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to provide a simple, reproducible, and point-of-care assessment of peri-prosthetic aortic regurgitation (periAR) during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and to decipher the impact of this peri-procedural parameter on outcome.

Background: Because periAR after TAVI might be associated with adverse outcome, precise quantification of periAR is of paramount importance but remains technically challenging.

Methods: The severity of periAR was prospectively evaluated in 146 patients treated with the Medtronic CoreValve (Minneapolis, Minnesota) prosthesis by echocardiography, angiography, and measurement of the aortic regurgitation (AR) index, which is calculated as ratio of the gradient between diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) to systolic blood pressure (SBP): [(DBP - LVEDP)/SBP] × 100.