Transaortic transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAo-TAVI) is currently done only as a last resort, when implantation via the usual access routes (i.e. transapical or transfemoral) is impossible.

Mitochondria produced and destroyed in the heart during cardiac surgery could hold the key to quicker recovery, according to US researchers.

Patching a patient’s heart with their own cells could improve the symptoms of heart failure – a condition that affects around ­­­6 million people in the US.

Researchers in Japan have demonstrated that three-port video-assisted thoracic surgery facilitates endoscopic minimally invasive mitral valve surgery.

Patients anticoagulated with uninterrupted dabigatran have fewer bleeding complications after catheter ablation than those receiving uninterrupted warfarin, according to a recent clinical trial. The results could change the practice of electrophysiologists worldwide, and improve patient outcomes.

Assessing seven different variables before surgery can accurately predict the risk of an unsuccessful mitral valve repair. Researchers have devised a ‘scoring method’ using these variables which could assist cardiologists’ decisions when referring patients.

Patients with atrial fibrillation, a thickened anterior mitral leaflet and shortened posterior mitral leaflet may be at higher risk of aggravated mitral regurgitation after atrial septal defect closure. Identifying and carefully following up on these patients could improve post-surgical outcomes.

The safety and efficacy of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) in patients with valvular heart disease is similar to warfarin, according to a recent meta-analysis.