Interventional procedures in congenital heart disease for atrio-ventricular valves: future possibility or fools dream

Transcatheter options for atrioventricular valve disease have skyrocketed in recent years and this review aims to outline current available technologies and how they have been used to date in congenital heart disease patients.

Transcatheter edge to edge repair is the best described technology to date with most reports being limited to case series. The limitation of its widespread use is largely imaging based with a steep learning curve from the imaging standpoint most likely limiting its widespread use in stand-alone paediatric hospitals where a lot of adult congenital interventions take place. Valve in valve tricuspid valve replacement has been well described with off label use of balloon expandable valves but further additional technologies; transcatheter annuloplasty, transcatheter mitral valve in valve or valve in ring and native transcatheter valve replacement have limited reports in the congenital field.

As the newer transcatheter options for atrioventricular valve disease become more ubiquitous in acquired cardiovascular disease attention will turn more to congenital patients. Collaboration with adult acquired structural interventionalists and imaging cardiologists will be the key which unlocks these technologies in the future for congenital patients.