Transcatheter aortic valve replacement with a focus on transcarotid: a review of the current literature

Aortic valve disorders comprise the most common type of valve disorders and its prevalence of moderate to severe aortic stenosis (AS) can be as high as 2.8% in the population aged 75 years and older (1). Surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) has traditionally been the gold standard for treatment of severe symptomatic AS. Since transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) was first performed in 2002, it has emerged as an acceptable therapeutic option for such patients who are at high-risk for SAVR and accounts for approximately 80% of the procedures (2-5). More recently, TAVR has shown promising results in intermediate and low risk groups (6-8). In addition to the more common transfemoral approach (TF), there is a multitude of approaches for TAVR including transapical, transaxillary, transcaval, transaortic, and transcarotid which account for the remaining 20% of the procedures while the TC itself accounts for approximately 10% of the alternative procedures (2,9,10)