TRANSCATHETER AORTIC VALVE IMPLANTATION (TAVI): Alternative Approaches for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation

Abstract

The feasibility of alternative approaches is dependent on the factors that hinder the possibility of carrying out the aforementioned, most common approaches. In other words, these alternative approaches should only be a last resort when all other more common options have been exhausted. At the moment, the most common practice for aortic valve implantation requiring aortic valve implantation is transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TF-TAVI). In cases of difficult anatomical approach, the next most common method is the TA-TAVI technique. Besides these approaches, there are a number of ways to perform transcatheter aortic valve implantation safely. The subclavian artery runs above the first rib and subsequently becomes the axillary artery, which then courses posterior to the pectoralis minor muscle and becomes the brachial artery at the inferior border of the teres minor muscle. The left axillary artery is preferred, because it allows for coaxial orientation of the valve prosthesis within the aortic annulus.