Aortic Valve Stenosis Treatment Disparities in the Underserved: JACC Council Perspectives

Underserved minorities make up a disproportionately small subset of patients in the United States undergoing transcatheter and surgical aortic valve replacement for aortic stenosis. The reasons for these treatment gaps include differences in disease prevalence and patient, health care system, and disease-related factors. This has major implications not only for minority patients, but also for other groups who face similar challenges in accessing state-of-the-art care for structural heart disease. The authors propose the following key strategies to address these treatment disparities: 1) implementation of measure-based quality improvement programs; 2) effective culturally competent communication and team-based care; 3) improving patient health care access, education, and effective diagnosis; and 4) changing the research paradigm that creates an innovation pipeline for patients. Only a concerted effort from all stakeholders will achieve equitable and broad application of this and other novel structural heart disease treatment modalities in the future.