Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement to Treat Pure Aortic Regurgitation on Noncalcified Native Valves

This is the first report of the use of a balloon expandable transcatheter heart valve (Edwards Sapiens 3) for TAVI in chronic aortic regurgitation (AR) involving non-calcified native valves. The authors implanted Edwards Sapiens 3 prostheses in three patients with severe AR deemed inoperable by the heart team. After the procedure, there was no more than trivial AR in any of the patients (one required post-procedure dilation). At one month all three patients were alive and in New York Heart Association functional class I or II. Transthoracic echocardiograms failed to show any valve displacement or paravalvular AR. The authors advise positioning the valve more ventricular than what is recommended for aortic stenosis and use of a balloon “slow inflation” technique.