DOIAbstract
581-585Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a percutaneous procedure that allows introducing an aortic valve prosthesis without the need for open heart surgery. The technique is used mainly in elderly patients who are considered at very high risk of dying due to the operation or with contra-indications for surgical treatment. If patients with a symptomatic aortic stenosis are left untreated, the prognosis is bleak, and most of them will die within 5 years1. TAVI is mostly accomplished via a femoral, or less often via a subclavian, artery. Patients with no adequate trans-arterial access route can be treated via the trans-apical approach in which the prosthesis is inserted from the apex of the heart via a mini-thoracotomy
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