[Transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation of the 'MedLab-KT' prosthesis]

Valve-in-valve repeat prosthetic reconstruction is a less invasive alternative to 'open' redo operation for degenerative dysfunction of an aortic bioprosthesis. At the beginning of the history of using this method it was resorted to only in cases of high surgical risk, involving virtually inoperable patients. Currently, the world experience numbers in thousands of such interventions, known to be also performed in patients not belonging to a high-risk group. Recent studies have demonstrated a decrease in the perioperative mortality and improved quality of life in the remote period after valve-in-valve transcatheter implantation of an aortic bioprosthesis. High gradients, occlusion of coronary arteries, and thrombosis of the prosthesis's leaflets remain the major problems encountered while using this method. Nevertheless, valve-in-valve prosthetic reconstruction proved to be a reliably safe and efficient procedure of correcting dysfunction of a previously implanted biological prosthesis.