Comparison of the 3-class and 5-class grading schemes for quantification of paravalvular regurgitation during transcatheter aortic valve implantation

Introduction: More than mild paravalvular regurgitation (PVR) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) represents one of the negative predictive factor for survival and quality of life after TAVI1. However, quantification and definition of more than mild PVR remains to be unified. Most commonly used 3 stage grading scheme is often insufficient2. Aim of this research was to assess differences in incidence of more than mild PVR during and after TAVI comparing 3 and 5 grades staging schemes. Patients and Methods: Study included 40 patients that underwent TAVI between July 2016 and January 2019 in general anesthesia with transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) during procedure. TEE exams had to be sufficiently recorded to quantify PVR with both grading schemes. Parameters used for PVR quantification and differences between models are presented in Table 1. Results: After initial valve implantation 10 (25%) patients had more than mild PVR when quantified using 3 grade model compared to 19 (47.5%) using 5 grade model (p