Atrial fibrillation (AFib), the most common heart rhythm disorder, continues to rise globally - it is predicted to affect more than 12 million people in the US by 2030 and almost 18 million people in Europe by 2060. With a growing aging population and an increased prevalence of heart disease, the demand for effective treatments for AFib is higher than ever before. 

Listen in as a general cardiologist, surgeon, and interventionalist delve into the latest evidence—including the Evolut™ TAVR 5-Year Low Risk data and SMART Trial 2-Year update—to guide appropriate treatment decisions for patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis.

The late-breaking five-year results of the Evolut Low-Risk Trial presented at ACC.25 showed positive results for the Evolut TAVR system when compared to SAVR.

Howard Herrmann, MD,  MSCAI, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and lead invesigator for the SMART trial, explains details on the 2-year data comparing the Evolut vs. Sapien 3 for TAVR in small annulus patients.

"The onus is on us as cardiologists to make sure we offer the very best possible devices for our patients with the available data that we have," interventional cardiologist Anene Ukaigwe, MD, explained. 

Women with cardiovascular disease are consistently underdiagnosed and undertreated compared to men, and those disparities are true for aortic stenosis as well. Women with symptomatic severe AS are up to 35% less likely than men to undergo aortic valve replacement, for example, and they often have to wait longer just to be referred for further care.

TAVR is a go-to treatment for symptomatic severe aortic stenosis in much of the world, thanks in large part to the hard work of research teams that never stop looking for new, innovative ways to make the technology more effective.

TAVR procedures have surged more than 30% since 2020, with more than 107,000 patients receiving a new prosthetic valve in 2023 alone. As this trend continues, it’s increasingly important that cardiologists consider the long-term impact on future coronary interventions patients may need.