Combined percutaneous approach for aortic valve implantation in poor vascular access

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a well-established management option for symptomatic patients with severe aortic stenosis. The minimally invasive transfemoral approach is considered to be superior to non-transfemoral accesses; however, its use is often limited by concomitant peripheral artery disease (PAD). Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with stent implantation (PTA) is a gold-standard therapy for symptomatic PAD. We present 2 cases from our cohort of patients with severe aortic stenosis and PAD previously contraindicated for TAVI because of poor peripheral vascular access. However, the patients were eventually treated either by staged PTA and TAVI through an endothelialized stent or PTA and TAVI though a newly implanted peripheral stent during one procedure. We provide recommendations based on our experience of how to select the optimal patients for such a combined minimally invasive transfemoral approach (Fig. 2, Ref. 9). Keywords: transcatheter valve implantation, peripheral arterial disease, aortic valve disease, percutaneous intervention, atherosclerosis.