Background: Live case demonstration as an educational tool is widely used to rapidly and effectively disseminate information on surgical and interventional techniques. The risks and benefits of live case transmission for investigational devices, however, are in question.
Methods: Transcatheter Aortic Valve Intervention-Live Transmission (VERITAS) is a case-control study of 60 patients from 5 centers who were treated with transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) during live- or recorded transmission; of which 42 have matched Control subjects from five sites. Case and Control subjects were matched by valve type, access strategy (Edwards SAPIEN transfemoral, Edwards SAPIEN transapical, CoreValve transfemoral), Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) score, date of TAVR procedure, and primary operator.
Results: The Case and Control groups' baseline characteristics were similar, with average ages of 84 and 82 years, and STS scores of 6.54±3.22 and 6.46±3.20, respectively. The number of operators, fluoroscopy time, contrast volume and length of hospital stay were also similar between groups. Overall, 91.7% of the cases had TAVR via a transfemoral approach; 72% of these patients received a closure device. The final valve position was adequate in 91.2% of the Case patients and in 97% of the Control patients, with no cases of valve migration or coronary obstruction. The Case patients had longer procedure times (130.2±50.6 versus 100.6±43.7min; p=0.006). The Valve Academic Research Consortium in-hospital complications were similar between groups. Four Case patients and 1 Control patient required additional valve implantation.
Conclusion: Data support the notion that live transmission of TAVR procedures, when performed by experienced operators, can be done safely with similar outcomes when compared to non-transmitted cases.
Keywords: Society of Thoracic Surgeons; Transcatheter aortic valve replacement; Valve.
Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.