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Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Vascular Balloon Injury and Intraluminal Administration in Rat Carotid Artery
Published on: December 23, 2014
Cranial nerve injury during transcarotid transcatheter aortic valve replacement
Vassili Panagides1, Dimitri Kalavrouziotis1, Eric Dumont1
1Quebec Heart & Lung Institute, Laval University, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
Background:
No data exist about cranial nerve injury (CNI) as a potential complication of transcarotid (TC) transcatheter valve replacement (TAVR).
Methods:
This monocentric study included 318 consecutive patients undergoing TC-TAVR from May 2015 to August 2021.
Results:
CNI occurred in 7 (2.2%) TAVR-TC patients. Five out of the 7 patients (71.4%) had an injury of the laryngeal branch of the vagus nerve, and 2 patients (28.6%) had an injury of the facial nerve. The majority of patients were male (85.7%), with high body mass index (35.6 (IQR: 30.1-37.3) kg/m2). The induced disabilities were clinically important especially for patients with dysphonia.
Conclusions:
CNI is a potential complication of TC-TAVR likely avoidable by a meticulous surgical technique. Structural heart teams must be aware of this serious setback.

