Commissural Alignment of Bioprosthetic Aortic Valve and Native Aortic Valve Following Surgical and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement and its Impact on Valvular Function and Coronary Filling

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to assess the commissural alignment between bioprosthetic and native aortic valve leaflets following surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) and transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and to investigate its impact on valvular function and coronary filling. BACKGROUND Expansion and geometry have been shown to affect leaflets of implanted transcatheter aortic bioprosthesis, but commissural alignment has not been studied. METHODS Pre- and post-procedural multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) of 28 SAVR patients and 212 TAVR patients were analyzed. Commissural alignment between the bioprosthetic (post) and native (pre) aortic valves was categorized as aligned (0 degrees to 15 degrees angle deviation) or as mild (15 degrees to 30 degrees), moderate (30 degrees to 45 degrees), or severe (45 degrees to 60 degrees) commissural misalignment (CMA). RESULTS With SAVR, 27 of 28 cases (96%) were aligned and 1 had mild CMA. For all types of transcatheter heart valves (THVs), there was random valve implantation with regard to commissural alignment: 22% of THVs were aligned, 25% had mild CMA, 22% had moderate CMA, and 31% had severe CMA. The degree of commissural alignment was not associated with a difference in transvalvular gradient, paravalvular aortic regurgitation, or simulated coronary filling. However, there was a significantly higher rate of mild central aortic regurgitation in those THVs with moderate or greater CMA compared with those THV with mild or less CMA (7.8% vs. 1.1%; p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS Commissural alignment is excellent in case of SAVR but random in case of TAVR. There is no association between CMA and transvalvular gradient or coronary filling; however, there is a significantly higher rate of mild central aortic regurgitation in case of moderate or greater CMA. (c) 2018 Published by Elsevier on behalf of the American College of Cardiology Foundation.