Percutaneous valve procedures: an update

Valvular heart disease is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation account for the majority of patients with native valve disease. Although surgical treatment provides satisfactory outcome, a large proportion of patients do not undergo a surgical intervention, because of the high estimated operative risk and multiple comorbidities. Recently, new techniques that enable percutaneous treatment of valvular heart disease have been developed and their feasibility has been reported in several studies. All techniques target a minimal invasive procedure with a low risk of procedure-related complications. In this article, an overview of the various percutaneous procedures for mitral and aortic valve disease is provided. In addition, an update on the ongoing trials in percutaneous valve procedures is presented. Finally, the role of imaging in performing percutaneous valve procedures will be discussed.