Alignment of Transcatheter Aortic-Valve Neo-Commissures (ALIGN TAVR): Impact on Final Valve Orientation and Coronary Artery Overlap

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Gilbert H.L. Tang
  • Syed Zaid
  • Andreas Fuchs
  • Tsuyoshi Yamabe
  • Farhang Yazdchi
  • Eisha Gupta
  • Hasan Ahmad
  • Joshua B. Goldberg
  • Cenap Undemir
  • Ryan K. Kaple
  • Pinak B. Shah
  • Tsuyoshi Kaneko
  • Steven L. Lansman
  • Sahil Khera
  • Jason C. Kovacic
  • George D. Dangas
  • Stamatios Lerakis
  • Samin K. Sharma
  • Annapoorna Kini
  • David H. Adams
  • Omar K. Khalique
  • Rebecca T. Hahn
  • Isaac George
  • Susheel K. Kodali
  • Martin B. Leon
  • Vinayak N. Bapat

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of initial deployment orientation of SAPIEN 3, Evolut, and ACURATE-neo transcatheter heart valves on their final orientation and neocommissural overlap with coronary arteries. Background: Coronary artery access and redo transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) following initial TAVR may be influenced by transcatheter heart valve orientation. In this study the impact of transcatheter heart valve deployment orientation on commissural alignment was evaluated. Methods: Pre-TAVR computed tomography and procedural fluoroscopy were analyzed in 828 patients who underwent TAVR (483 SAPIEN 3, 245 Evolut, and 100 ACURATE-neo valves) from March 2016 to September 2019 at 5 centers. Coplanar fluoroscopic views were coregistered to pre-TAVR computed tomography to determine commissural alignment. Severe overlap between neocommissural posts and coronary arteries was defined as 0° to 20° apart. The SAPIEN 3 had 1 commissural post crimped at 3, 6, 9, and 12 o'clock. The Evolut “Hat” marker and ACURATE-neo commissural post at deployment were classified as center back (CB), inner curve (IC), outer curve (OC), or center front (CF) and matched with final orientation. Results: Initial SAPIEN 3 crimped orientation had no impact on commissural alignment. Evolut “Hat” at OC or CF at initial deployment had less severe overlap than IC or CB (p < 0.001) against the left main (15.7% vs. 66.0%) and right coronary (7.1% vs. 51.1%) arteries. Tracking Evolut “Hat” at OC of the descending aorta (n = 107) improved OC at deployment from 70.2% to 91.6% (p = 0.002) and reduced coronary artery overlap by 36% to 60% (p < 0.05). ACURATE-neo commissural post at CB or IC during deployment had less coronary artery overlap compared to CF or OC (p < 0.001), with intentional alignment successful in 5 of 7 cases. Conclusions: This is the first systematic evaluation of commissural alignment in TAVR. More than 30% to 50% of cases had overlap with 1 or both coronary arteries. Initial SAPIEN 3 orientation had no impact on alignment, but specific initial orientations of Evolut and ACURATE improved alignment. Optimizing valve alignment to avoid coronary artery overlap will be important in coronary artery access and redo TAVR.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJACC: Cardiovascular Interventions
Volume13
Issue number9
Pages (from-to)1030-1042
Number of pages13
ISSN1936-8798
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

    Research areas

  • commissural alignment, coronary artery access, transcatheter aortic valve replacement

ID: 260597460