A new option for the treatment of aortic stenosis: percutaneous aortic valve replacement.

http://ccn.aacnjournals.org higher in men than in women. Increasing evidence indicates that the disease is accelerated by the same factors that affect coronary artery disease, including smoking, hypercholesterolemia, hyper tension, and diabetes. Until now, surgical valve replacement, pioneered in the 1960s with mechanical or tissue prostheses, was the only effective treatment available to alleviate signs and symptoms and prolong life in patients with severe aortic stenosis. Surgical aortic valve replacement improves quality of life and prognosis, but the procedure is a high-risk one for patients of advanced age who have multisystem dysfunction and calcific aortic stenosis. Interventional cardiology is rapidly evolving to include innovative approaches to manage valvular heart disease. In 2002, Cribier et al reported the first successful human percutaneous aortic valve implantation done via an antegrade Sandra Lauck, RN, MSN, CCN(C) Martha Mackay, RN, MSN, CCN(C) Carol Galte, MSN, NP(F), CCN(C) Margot Wilson, RN, MSN, CCN(C)