Transcatheter Valve Repair and Replacement

Transcatheter valve replacement and repair therapies have grown significantly in prevalence in the past two decades. These procedures are minimally invasive and can be the preferred procedure for those with various valvular diseases or insufficiencies who are too frail to tolerate the more invasive surgical techniques. These techniques have evolved so much that there are now devices developed for repairing/replacing all four valves of the heart and sometimes replacing previous prosthetic valves. This chapter provides a brief introduction to this rapidly emerging device area, as well as general considerations related to delivering a device via catheter into the heart (e.g., percutaneous beating heart interventional procedures performed under fluoroscopic and/or echocardiographic guidance).