The Next Generation of Prosthetic Heart Valves

Dear Colleagues,

There are nearly 350,000 valve replacement procedures annually worldwide. The age range of the majority of patients with aortic valve pathology in need of replacement is between 60 and 80. Among the two main aortic valve diseases, replacement for aortic insufficiency is performed much less frequently for aortic stenosis of ~15% than for aortic stenosis of ~85%. Mitral regurgitation is one of the most common forms of heart valve disorders and occurs when blood leaks back into the left atrium from the left ventricle during heart contraction. This is a result of an apposition failure between the valve leaflets from a functional or congenital cause. Patients with a perceived risk from the procedure, usually due to age or additional issues, need a non-invasive procedure option to replace their incompetent heart valve. That is where development into catheter-based valve implantation is vital.

Mechanical heart valves are used to replace diseased human heart valves in approximately 50% of cases. Bioprosthetic heart valves are used in the other 45% of cases. Pulmonary autograft valves and human cryopreserved homograft valves represent the remainder of implanted valves. Autografts and homografts exhibit excellent durability after implantation but are not readily available for all patients.

Catheter-based, also known as transcatheter or percutaneous, heart valves have already had successful implantation into the aortic and pulmonary valve position and are commercially available. It is the success of these valves that has led to a new focus into the development of the mitral valve position. To date, there are no commercially available percutaneous mitral valve options, only designs in the clinical and research stages. There is a huge unmet need in percutaneous mitral valve design, as it is only at the infant stages of development.

This Special Issue will discuss all the concerns that are important to be taken into consideration for the design and development of the next generation of heart valve prostheses.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hadi Mohammadi
Guest Editor

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