Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 3, 2026
Full-root Aortic Valve Replacement by Stentless Aortic Xenografts in Patients with Small Aortic Roots
Published on: May 21, 2017
The Sapien valve provides enough grip to be implanted in pulmonary position without a pre-stent
Daniel Tanase1, Stanimir Georgiev1, Andreas Eicken1
1Department of Paediatric Cardiology and Congenital Heart Defects, German Heart Centre Munich, Munich, Germany.
Background:
Pre-stenting is a widely used technique for transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation (TPVI). For the Melody valve a pre-stent creates a reliable and solid landing zone. In contrast to the Melody valve, the Edwards Sapien valve consists of a strong balloon expandable stent designed for implantation in the aortic position. The usage of a Sapien valve in pulmonary position might therefore obviate the need of a pre-stent.
Methods:
This retrospective, single centre study reviewed the procedural outcomes of patients receiving the Sapien XT transcatheter valve in pulmonary position without prior implantation of a pre-stent. All consecutive patients with dysfunctional right ventricle to pulmonary artery (RV-PA) conduits or with dysfunctional pulmonary valve treated at the German Heart Centre in Munich were included in this study.
Results:
We report on successful implantation of a Sapien XT/3 without usage of a pre-stent.
Conclusions:
Abandonment of the pre-stent simplified the procedure and reduces the radiation burden for the patients.
