Balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV) was originally devised as an alternative approach for treating aortic valve stenosis (AS) in patients who could not undergo aortic valve replacement (AVR)1. However, BAV only provided temporary clinical and haemodynamic improvement and its use was therefore limited to palliative therapy2. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has revolutionised the treatment of symptomatic severe AS in elderly patients with an elevated operative risk3. Treating this increasingly frail population has renewed interest in a therapy which could temporarily alleviate symptoms in order to bridge patients to definitive valve replacement therapy or other urgent therapy.

doi.org/10.4244/eij-d-19-00074, hdl.handle.net/1765/120484
EuroIntervention
Department of Cardiology

Ooms, J.F.W., van Wiechen, M., Ziviello, F., Kroon, H., Ren, B., Daemen, J., … van Mieghem, N. (2019). Single-access balloon aortic valvuloplasty - an overview of contemporary technical improvements. EuroIntervention, 15(9), E766–E770. doi:10.4244/eij-d-19-00074