Percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation

Summary

The field of percutaneous valvular interventions is one of the most exciting and rapidly developing within interventional cardiology. Percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation (PPVI) represents the first in human application of these techniques and is a non-surgical option for treating right ventricular outflow tract dysfunction. With the growing numbers of patients with right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduit dysfunction late after repair of congenital heart disease, the importance of a technique with lower morbidity and mortality, good patient acceptance, and efficacy that is comparable with surgery should not be underestimated. Although techniques of percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation were described just a decade ago, thus far two, complementary, stent-mounted devices have been introduced successfully into clincial practice and more than 8000 of these procedures have been performed worldwide. This fact underlines that PPVI has become a feasible, safe, benefitial and cost-effective treatment for both conduit stenosis and regurgitation. Consistently, follow-up data reveal good freedom from both re-operation and re-catheterisation and demonstrate that PPVI can postpone open-heart surgery, thereby potentially reducing the number of operations patients have to undergo within their lifetime. Complications are seen after PPVI but can be avoided in most cases if reasonable precautions are taken into account and...