Indications for transcatheter aortic valve implantation--now and next?

Aortic stenosis (AS) is the most common valvular pathology and its prevalence is expected to increase rapidly in coming decades as a consequence of the increasingly elderly population. Without treatment, severe symptomatic AS has a very poor prognosis with a mortality of 50% at two years. Whilst surgical aortic valve replacement is the gold standard treatment, a significant minority of patients are deemed inoperable and declined surgery due to prohibitively high risk. The advent of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has revolutionised their treatment. In this review, we discuss current indications for TAVI, other applications of this technology and future indications.