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Aims: To correlate dynamics in electrical conduction after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) with need for permanent pacemaker implantation (PPM) and assess implications for early discharge., Methods and Results: Daily electrocardiograms after TAVI were analysed for rhythm and conduction times and were correlated with PPM. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation was performed in 291 consecutive patients with three contemporary transcatheter heart valve designs: Medtronic CoreValve (n = 111), Edwards Sapien XT (n = 29) and Sapien 3 (n = 72), and Boston Lotus (n = 79). We considered two cohorts: (A) Patients with normal baseline conduction; and (B) patients with pre-existent conduction disturbances. Based on QRS dynamics, three patterns were discerned: stable normal QRS duration, transient QRS prolongation, and persistent QRS prolongation. In Cohort B, QRS dynamics did not correlate with PPM. In contrast, in Cohort A, QRS dynamics and PPM appeared highly correlated. Neither patients with stable normal QRS duration (0/47), nor patients with transient QRS prolongation required PPM (0/26). All PPMs occurred in patients with persistent QRS prolongation until discharge (27/85). Persistent QRS prolongation was typically seen with Lotus and CoreValve, whereas stable normal QRS duration was typically seen with Sapien XT and Sapien 3., Conclusion: Three distinct patterns of QRS dynamics can be discerned after TAVI and their predictive probabilities for PPM strongly relate to the baseline conduction status. Patients with normal conduction at baseline and stable QRS duration after TAVI are potentially eligible for early discharge.

Aims: The aim of this study was to provide a real-world snapshot of contemporary Heart Team decision making on patients with aortic stenosis (AS) and the consequent short-term clinical outcome., Methods and Results: This was an international multicentre prospective registry encompassing 390 patients with symptomatic severe AS who were prospectively enrolled. Clinical endpoints and the decisive arguments to opt for surgical or transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or medical therapy were recorded separately. The mean age was 76.4±11.6 years, 55% were male and the STS score was 2.9% (IQR 1.6-6.9). The local Heart Teams considered 43%, 25% and 23% to be at low, intermediate and high operative risk with a calculated STS score of 2.18±1.72, 5.08±2.76 and 13.15±9.43, respectively. Overall, 7% were deemed inoperable. Ninety-four percent of patients at low operative risk were sent for SAVR whereas 64% and 92% of intermediate and high-risk patients underwent TAVI. Only 6% of patients did not receive any kind of aortic valve replacement. Overall, 30-day all-cause mortality was 2.8%. TAVI was associated with more major vascular complications, need for permanent pacemakers and post-procedural aortic regurgitation. SAVR had more life-threatening bleedings and new-onset atrial fibrillation., Conclusions: The PRAGMATIC AS survey offers a snapshot of the contemporary management of patients with symptomatic severe AS. Multidisciplinary Heart Teams select an optimal strategy based on age, frailty and comorbidities. Nearly half of all patients are sent for TAVI. Only a small minority of patients will not receive valve replacement therapy.

Objectives: This paper reviews the published data and reports 3 cases of thrombosis involving CoreValve (Medtronic, Minneapolis, Minnesota) and 1 involving Edward Sapien (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, California) devices. Three of these cases had pathological findings at autopsy., Background: Only a limited number of cases of valve dysfunction with rapid increase of transvalvular aortic gradients or aortic insufficiency post-transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) have been described. This nonstructural valvular dysfunction has been presumed to be because of early pannus formation or thrombosis., Methods: Through reviews of the published reports and 4 clinical cases, pathological and clinical findings of early valve thrombosis are examined to elucidate methods for recognition and identifying potential causes and treatments., Results: This paper presents 4 cases, 2 of which had increasing gradients post-TAVR. All 3 pathology cases showed presence of a valve thrombosis in at least 2 TAV leaflets on autopsy, but were not visualized by transthoracic echocardiogram or transesophageal echocardiogram. One case was medically treated with oral anti coagulation with normalization of gradients. The consequence of valve thrombosis in all 3 pathology patients either directly or indirectly played a role in their early demise. At least 18 case reports of early valve thrombosis have been published. In 12 of these cases, the early treatment with anticoagulation therapy resolved the thrombus formation and normalized aortic pressures gradients successfully., Conclusions: These 4 cases elucidate the occurrence of valve thrombosis post-TAVR. Consideration should be given to treatment with dual antiplatelet therapy and oral anticoagulation in patients post-TAVR with increasing mean pressure gradients and maximum aortic valve velocity. Further research should be conducted to create guidelines for antithrombotic therapy following TAVR procedure., (Copyright © 2015 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)