Catheterization Laboratory: Structural Heart Disease, Devices, and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

The cardiac catheterization laboratory is advancing medicine by performing procedures on patients who would usually require sternotomy and cardiopulmonary bypass. These procedures are done percutaneously, allowing them to be performed on patients considered inoperable. Patients have compromised cardiovascular function or advanced age. An anesthesiologist is essential for these procedures in case of hemodynamic compromise. Interventionalists are becoming more familiar with transcatheter aortic valve replacement and the device has become smaller, both contributing to less complications. Left atrial occlusion and the endovascular edge-to-edge mitral valve repair devices were approved. Although these devices require general anesthesia, an invasive surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass machine are not necessary for deployment.