Pediatric Transcatheter Valve Replacement

Letter by Philip Regarding Articles, “Clinical and Hemodynamic Outcomes up to 7 Years After Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Replacement in the US Melody Valve Investigational Device Exemption Trial” and “Pediatric Transcatheter Valve Replacement: Guests at Our Own Table?”

“…I read with much interest the recent article and editorial by Cheatham et al 1 and Petit 2 in Circulation evaluating the long-term outcomes after transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation in 171 patients. In 148 patients who received the transcatheter pulmonary valve, 32 patients underwent right ventricular outflow tract reintervention for obstruction (n=27, with stent fracture in 22), endocarditis (n=3, 2 with stenosis and 1 with pulmonary regurgitation), or right ventricular dysfunction (n=2).…”

Developing a Clinically Relevant Tissue Engineered Heart Valve—A Review of Current Approaches

“…Despite advances in the transcatheter delivery mechanism, stroke remains the major complication for transcatheter valve replacement . While over 50 000 adult patients have received transcatheter valve implants since 2002, transcatheter technologies for pediatric patients with congenital heart disease are severely lacking . However, the minimal invasiveness and fast recovery time of transcatheter valve replacement can be advantageous for younger patients, especially since valve‐in‐valve procedures are now an option to replace damaged or degraded valve prostheses …”

Development of Tissue Engineered Heart Valves for Percutaneous Transcatheter Delivery in a Fetal Ovine Model

“…We sought to construct the first completely bioabsorbable TEHV for fetal percutaneous and transcatheter implantation in the pulmonary valve position. We modeled the TEHV after currently available transcatheter techniques for replacing pulmonary and aortic valves in children and adults ( 8 , 9 ). In this manner, balloon-expandable valves are sewn into a stent, crimped onto an angioplasty balloon, and delivered through a catheter into the existing degenerated valve.…”