Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in 2018: recent advances and future development

Transcather aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has become a safe and indispensable treatment option for patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis (AS) who are at high or prohibitive surgical risk. In the past years, outcomes after TAVI have improved significantly and TAVI has emerged as a qualified alternative to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in the treatment of intermediate risk patients. Besides optimized patient screening, advanced imaging and increased examiner experience, transcatheter heart valve (THV) design addressed several key issues like vascular complications, pacemaker implantation and paravalvular leakage rates and improved considerably over time. Currently, several trials are investigating the role of TAVI in low surgical risk patients, novel indications and peri-operative management. In this review we give an overview on 1) current generation TAVI devices; on 2) recent clinical trial results and guidelines; and on 3) future trends and novel developments in the field of interventional treatment of AS.