Imaging for SHD interventions

The field of transcatheter structural heart interventions has grown tremendously in recent years. Because operators are not able to directly visualize the cardiac anatomy during percutaneous procedures, live imaging is a critical component of safely and successfully performing these procedures. Interventional echocardiography has thus evolved in tandem with the growth of structural heart procedures. Echocardiography has become an important part of preprocedural planning, procedural guidance, and postprocedural assessment. Commonly performed procedures include transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation or valve-in-ring implantation, closure of paravalvular regurgitation (PVR), edge-to-edge mitral valve repair (TMVR), and left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO), among others. Intensive interest and ongoing trials are currently evaluating transcatheter options to treat mitral regurgitation (MR) with transcatheter mitral valve replacement (valve in native annulus) or alternative transcatheter mitral valve repair devices, as well as new devices to treat tricuspid regurgitation. These new devices have the potential to provide treatment options for patients deemed to have a high or prohibitive risk for conventional open surgery.