Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Is Growing Up, But Kids Do the Darndest Things.

I n this issue of JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, Webb et al. (1) report the 2-year follow-up of the B arm of the PARTNER II (Placement of Aortic Transcatheter Valves II) trial in which patients with severe inoperable symptomatic aortic stenosis were randomized to receive transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) with the SAPIEN versus the SAPIEN XT valve (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, California). Both valves are balloon-expandable bovine pericardial bioprostheses. The SAPIEN valve is delivered using a 22or 24-F introducer sheath, whereas the lower-profile SAPIEN XT valve is delivered using a smaller 18or 19-F sheath. Both groups of patients were required to have vascular access capable of receiving either valve.