Beyond adding years to life: health-related quality-of-life and functional outcomes in patients with severe aortic valve stenosis at high surgical risk undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

ABSTRACT: Aortic valve stenosis (AVS) is the most frequent acquired valvular heart disease in western industrialized countries and its prevalence considerably increases with age. Once becoming symptomatic severe AVS has a very poor prognosis. Progressive and rapid symptom deterioration leads to an impairment of functional status and compromised healthrelated quality-of-life (HrQoL) simultaneously. Until recently, surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) has been the only effective treatment option for improving symptoms and prolonging survival. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) emerged as an alternative treatment modality for those patients with severe symptomatic AVS in whom the risk for SAVR is considered prohibitive or too high. TAVR has gained clinical acceptance with almost startlin

SUBMITTER: Deutsch MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3941091 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature