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Updated: Apr 14, 2026
Upper-extremity Approach for Secondary Access in Transfemoral Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation
Published on: August 8, 2025
Preliminary outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve implantation in patients with systemic sclerosis
Chiara Bernelli1, Alaide Chieffo, Gennaro Giustino
1Interventional Cardiology Unit and Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
Aims:
The aim of this study was to report the feasibility and the preliminary outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in the frail and unique high-risk population of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and severe aortic stenosis (AS).
Methods And Results:
All patients with SSc and severe AS treated with TAVI between November 2007 and June 2013 in our centre were included in the current study. Outcomes were assessed using the Valve Academic Research Consortium 2 (VARC-2) definitions. Of 526 surgical high-risk patients treated in the study period, only six had SSc (1.1%). All SSc patients underwent transfemoral TAVI under conscious sedation. The procedure was successfully performed in all patients. There was one case of a major vascular complication. During a median follow-up time of 550 days (interquartile range 390-1,009 days), five of the six patients were alive, free from any complications and with an NYHA Class I or II. One patient died at 670 days from a stroke of unknown aetiology.
Conclusions:
The present case series suggests that the TAVI procedure is feasible in patients with SSc and severe AS.
