Iatrogenic mitral valve chordal rupture during placement of an inflatable and repositionable percutaneous aortic valve prosthesis.

A case is reported of iatrogenic mitral valve chordal rupture occurring during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) with an inflatable and repositionable valve (Direct Flow; Direct Flow Medical, Santa Rosa, CA, USA). The specific implantation technique requires initial valve advancement into the left ventricular cavity, valve inflation within the ventricular cavity, and a final finely tuned valve upward pulling through the left ventricular outflow tract until contact with the aortic annulus is achieved. During this phase of the procedure, entangling with the mitral subvalvular apparatus should be excluded, to avoid inadvertent tissue tearing and consequent mitral valve malfunction. The present patient underwent TAVI but then developed symptomatic severe mitral valve regurgitation resulting from chordal rupture. The condition was successfully treated percutaneously by implanting a Mitra-Clip.

Complicated type B aortic dissection should not be treated with uncovered stents: a lesson not yet learned.

Whenever some basic rules for endovascular aortic repair of type B aortic dissection are not followed, iatrogenic complications may develop. A 64-year-old gentleman was referred to our institution for revision of previous treatment of complex type B aortic dissection with 2 bare stents. At 3 months, the most proximal aortic bare stent had entered, via the proximal tear, the false lumen. Aortic expansion and dynamic obstruction at the level of the renal arteries had also developed. In a first step, we removed the proximal aortic bare stent surgically. Few days later, 2 covered endografts were implanted into the true lumen of the thoracic aorta with clinical success. The rationale for using endovascular treatment in patients with complicated type B aortic dissection is coverage of the entry tear with covered nonoversized endografts. Negative results are achieved whenever these very simple rules are not strictly followed.

Endovascular treatment of acquired atheromatous aortic arch coarctation.

Acquired aortic coarctation is a rare condition. Its treatment using a percutaneous approach can be challenging, especially when severe calcifications and concomitant aneurysmal disease are present. We report a patient with symptomatic thoracic aorta acquired coarctation and aneurysm that was successfully treated using endovascular technique. After left subclavian artery transposition, a self-expanding endograft was implanted percutaneously, with complete abolishment of the transaortic gradient. Follow-up evaluation at 12 months revealed perfect position of the endograft, persistent reduction of the coarctation, and exclusion of the concomitant aneurysm. A noninvasive pressure reading demonstrated significant systemic blood pressure reduction, with no change in antihypertensive medications.

Perioperative and mid-term results of endovascular management of complicated type B aortic dissection using a proximal thoracic endoprosthesis and selective distal bare stenting.

OBJECTIVES: To present results of endovascular treatment of complicated type B aortic dissection. METHODS: Patients with acutely complicated type B aortic dissection extending from the left sub-clavian artery to the abdominal aorta were treated. The strategy involved the placement of a covered endoprosthesis to seal the primary entry tear and, in cases where malperfusion persisted, distal extension with uncovered stents, to enhance true lumen (TL) expansion and reperfusion of the ischaemic arterial branches originating from the TL. RESULTS: Thirty-five patients were included. Mean age was 63.1 (37-79) years and malperfusion syndrome occurred in 71.4%. Average aortic coverage with endoprostheses was 220.6 mm (136-355 mm). In 17 cases (48.5%), distal extension with uncovered stents was necessary. Thirty-day major morbidity was 28.5%, and mortality 2.8%. At follow-up (25.6 ± 19.5 months; 4-73 months), overall mortality was 15.2%, and aortic mortality 12.1%. Additional aortic intervention was necessary in 18.2%. Although patients undergoing distal extension with bare metal stents suffered most often from preoperative malperfusion, no significant differences were noted in the 30-day and follow-up clinical results. Follow-up angio-computed tomography showed complete thrombosis of the false lumen in the proximal half of the thoracic aorta in 76.4%. Patients treated with bare stents had significantly larger aortic TL sizes, at the different abdominal aorta levels. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with complicated type B aortic dissection, tailored elongation with uncovered stents is a safe treatment of persistent malperfusion. Although the results presented are encouraging, randomized data and a longer follow-up are required to confirm benefits and complications of this strategy.

Percutaneous treatment of adult isthmic aortic coarctation: acute and long-term clinical and imaging outcome with a self-expandable uncovered nitinol stent.

BACKGROUND: To present perioperative and long-term results of percutaneous treatment of adult isthmic coarctation of the aorta by means of a self-expandable closed-web uncovered nitinol stent (Sinus-XL, Optimed, Esslingen, Germany). METHODS AND RESULTS: Preoperative, perioperative, and long-term clinical and computed tomographic angiography data were collected and analyzed prospectively. A total of 52 consecutive patients were treated with the Sinus-XL stent. Mean age was 36.6 (21-67) years, peak invasive trans-coarctation of the aorta gradient was 54.7 ± 9.9 mm Hg, and upper body hypertension unresponsive to medical treatment was present in all patients. Mean stent diameter and length were 24.2 mm (22-28 mm) and 70.4 mm (40-80 mm), respectively. Eight patients (15.4%) required coarctation of the aorta predilatation. All patients underwent poststent dilatation with a noncompliant balloon. Postoperative peak gradient (3.3 ± 2.5 mm Hg) was reduced significantly (P < 0.001) and minimal aortic diameter was increased significantly (4.6 ± 1.9 versus 18.6 ± 2.5 mm; P < 0.001). All patients were discharged home (mean hospitalization, 3.5 days). At follow-up (47.6 months; 12-84), 1 (1.9%) noncardiovascular mortality was reported. Aortic computed tomography confirmed the absence of stent collapse and secondary migration and documented stability in aortic diameter (18.3 ± 2.7 mm). Thirty patients (57.7%) were completely weaned-off antihypertensive medications and their use dropped from 2.6 to 0.9 drugs/patient (P < 0.001). Ankle-brachial pressure index increased from 0.75 to 0.98 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Adult coarctation of the aorta treatment by means of a self-expandable uncovered stent is safe and durable. The peculiar stent design maintains adequate localized radial strength over time with minimal trauma on the adjacent aortic wall and negligible device-related complications. Blood pressure control optimization is immediate and persistent even at long-term follow-up.

Percutaneous mitral repair with the MitraClip system in patients with mild-to-moderate and severe heart failure: a single-centre experience.

AIMS: Edge-to-edge repair of mitral regurgitation (MR) with the MitraClip(®) (MC) system is increasingly applied in advanced heart failure. Our objective was to compare outcomes in patients with mild-to-moderate and severe systolic heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS: Between February 2010 and July 2012, 121 patients with MR of at least grade 3+ and a mean EuroSCORE II of 10.6% underwent MC implantation. Thirty-nine had a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of ≤30% (group A) and 82 of >30% (group B). Procedural success was comparable in both groups (100% vs. 95.2%) with multiple (>2) clip implantation in 34% and 25% of patients, respectively. At 12 months, absolute reduction in MR grade (2.3 vs. 2.2) and relative reduction in mitral valve orifice area (48% vs. 42%) were also comparable. New York Heart Association class had improved independent from baseline LVEF (P < 0.001). In-hospital mortality was low in both groups (2.6% vs. 2.4%), but there was a strong trend for higher 12-month mortality in group A (34% vs. 18%, P = 0.05) with no significant difference in the overall rate of major adverse cerebrovascular and cardiac events (36.8% vs. 28.9%, P = 0.38). On multivariate analysis, MR grade after repair was the strongest predictor of mortality (OR 2.121, 95% CI 1.095-4.109), whereas systolic impairment was no independent predictor. CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous mitral valve repair led to comparable symptomatic improvement in patients with mild-to-moderately or severely reduced LV function. LV-EF < 30% was not an independent predictor of short-term mortality, which was mainly governed by residual MR after repair.