title: How true delivery profile diminution reduces vascular access challenges and complications.
abstract: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is the treatment of choice among patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis (AS) deemed inoperable and a valuable alternative to surgical aortic valve replacement for high-risk surgical patients. Over the years, this procedure proved to be relatively safe, but despite this complications may occur. When performing TAVI, the most frequent complications are represented by peripheral vascular complications and bleeding involving the access site. Trans-femoral (TF) route is the preferred access site and device evolution has made it possible to reduce in size sheaths and delivery systems from the initial 22- to 24-Fr of the first generation TF devices, progressively down to 18-Fr and then to 16-14-Fr with the latest generations of prostheses, with a required minimal lumen diameter (MLD) of 5.5 mm. The more vascular-friendly TF-TAVI devices, not only have made it possible to patients with small arteries to be treated with this procedure, but also have markedly reduced vascular complications.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Unit, Ferrarotto Hospital, Catania, Italy - claudiatamburino@live.it.
authors.forename: Claudia I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Tamburino
authors.forename: Sebastiano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: IMMè
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barbanti
authors.forename: Piera
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Capranzano
authors.forename: Carmelo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sgroi
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scalia
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Riccobene
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Condorelli
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gulino
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Capodanno
authors.forename: Corrado
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tamburino
mesh_terms: D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000601:surgery; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D065467:Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*