Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Finite Element Analysis of Transcatheter
Aortic Valve Implantation in the Presence
of Aortic Leaflet Calcifications
Annalisa Dimasi, Marco Stevanella, Emiliano Votta, Francesco Sturla,
Gaetano Burriesci and Alberto Redaelli
Abstract
Transcatheter Aortic Valve (TAV) implantation is a recent interventional
procedure for the replacement of the aortic valve in patients affected by severe aor-
tic stenosis who are considered at high or prohibitive surgical risk. Despite recent
improvements, TAV-related complications still limit its application. In the present
work, FE analyses of TAV implantation and function have been performed with the
aim of investigating the influence of the calcifications of the aortic valve leaflets
on TAV performances. Results suggest that the degree and location of calcifications
could influence post-implanted TAV configuration as well as TAV-aortic root inter-
actions and TAV dynamics. The study gives insights in the biomechanics of TAV,
while the implemented computational tools could be applied to different scenarios
to investigate other relevant clinical aspects.
·
·
Keywords
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation
Finite element analysis
Calcific aortic stenosis
1 Introduction
Transcatheter Aortic Valve (TAV) implantation has been proposed in 2002 as an
alternative approach to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) for the substitution
of the stenotic aortic valve (AV) in those patients who were denied surgery because of
high surgical risk [
1
]. TAV procedure consists in the percutaneous implantation of a
stented biological valve that is delivered in the aortic position through a catheter; the
latter is inserted in a periferal vessel in the majority of cases [
2
]. As mentioned, the
prosthetic valve is sewned onto a metallic stent which interacts with the surrounding
