[Aortic valvular replacement by catheterism. Current state]

Severe aortic stenosis is a common disease whose prevalence is steadily growing with population ageing. Surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) has been the only effective alternative until the introduction of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR or TAVI). This procedure was initially used for non-surgical candidate patients where two randomized clinical trials and several registries showed superiority over conservative medical treatment. Furthermore, two additional clinical trials including high surgical risk patients proved the non-inferiority of TAVR versus surgical replacement. Similar findings regarding effectiveness were observed in other clinical trials including intermediate and low risk patients. Technical and procedural improvements, including learning curve and the current minimally invasive strategy have decreased periprocedural and mid-term complications such as those related with vascular access, stroke, the need for permanent pacemaker implantation and paravalvular leak. All things considered, durability is a pending question to establish which would be the role of TAVR in current and future practice.