The etiology of transcatheter aortic valve (TAV) degeneration is poorly understood, particularly noncalcific mechanisms.
The authors sought to investigate noncalcific and calcific mechanisms of TAV degeneration and evaluate their impact on leaflet function by bench testing, imaging, and histology.
TAV explants were obtained from the EXPLANT THV registry and clinical institutions. Hydrodynamic assessment was performed using a heart valve pulse duplicator system under physiological conditions. Micro-computed tomography, high-resolution photography, high speed video, and hematoxylin and eosin staining were used to evaluate the morphological appearance, leaflet kinematics, and calcium burden of TAVs.
A total of 14 explants were evaluated: 10 self-expanding CoreValve/Evolut TAVs (Medtronic), 3 balloon-expandable SAPIEN 3 TAVs (Edwards Lifesciences), and 1 mechanically expandable Lotus TAV (Boston Scientific). The median patient age at explantation was 73.0 years (Q1-Q3: 64.5-80.0 years), with a time to explantation of 4 years 1 month (1 year 5 months to 4 years 11 months). Six TAV explants were found to have leaflet calcification (162.4 mm ³ ; 58.8-603.0 mm ³ ), and 8 had no calcification detectable by micro-computed tomography and histology. All samples had impaired leaflet kinematics. There was no significant difference in the hydrodynamic mean gradient between calcified (47.2 mm Hg; 26.6-74.1 mm Hg) and noncalcified (27.6 mm Hg; 15.2-36.7 mm Hg; P = 0.28) TAVs. Leaflet calcification had a weak but nonsignificant association with the hydrodynamic mean gradient (r = 0.42; P = 0.14).
TAV function can be severely impacted by noncalcific and calcific mechanisms of tissue degeneration. Importantly, functional stenosis can occur in TAVs in the absence of obvious and significant calcification.