ABSTRACT
Aortic stenosis (AS) is the most common valvular pathology requiring intervention in adults. Some patients are denied surgery because of prohibitive risk of perioperative mortality and morbidity with conventional open aortic valve replacement. In 2002, Cribier described an endovascular transcatheter approach to aortic valve replacement (AVR) (1) for the high-risk surgical patient. In recent years different groups developed retrograde (2,3) and antegrade transapical (4-7) approaches to transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has been a critical tool in the development and application of this new technology for candidate evaluation, for periprocedural monitoring and guidance, to rule out complications and for follow-up (8-10).
