Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement Following Early Sapien-XT Valve Failure: A First

Abstract

Early degeneration of prosthetic aortic valve in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a rare complication. We report the case of a 75-year-old woman who presented with severe calcific stenosis of Edwards SAPIEN-XT valve implanted only 4 years previously. She is a Jehovah's Witness and has background of Sjogren's syndrome with secondary cryoglobulinaemic vasculitis. She was not a suitable candidate for valve-in-valve TAVR in view of early prosthetic valve failure by calcification. She underwent surgical explantation of the Sapiens XT valve and mechanical aortic valve replacement. To our knowledge, this is the first time that early TAVR valve degeneration and failure of an Edwards SAPIEN-XT valve was reported which required surgical replacement with a mechanical valve.