Percutaneous treatment of a dysfunctional aortic bioprosthesis with the CoreValve(®) prosthesis.

Recently, percutaneous aortic valve replacement has emerged as a therapeutic option for patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis and a high surgical risk. We report our initial experience in four patients with percutaneous implantation of a CoreValve aortic prosthesis to treat aortic bioprosthesis dysfunction involving aortic stenosis or regurgitation. In-hospital and medium-term outcomes were analyzed. The procedure was performed under local anesthesia and guided by angiography. The prosthesis was implanted successfully in all patients, although a second prosthesis was required in one case because the first was positioned too high. There were no major complications. After a mean follow-up of 7 months (SD, 4.7), all patients remained asymptomatic.