Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) was introduced in 2002 and has become integral in the management of aortic stenosis. As an alternative to surgical aortic valve replacement, it relies heavily on safe access to the aortic annulus for implantation of a valve prosthesis. Throughout its development and in current practice, the transfemoral (TF) arterial route for retrograde valve delivery has been the primary approach. However, this route is not appropriate for all patients, which has led to the development of multiple alternate access options. This review discusses the development of access for TAVR, followed by a thorough discussion of TF access. The commercially available products, preprocedural planning, closure techniques, and procedural complications are all discussed. We also describe the various alternate access routes with particular emphasis on the most recently developed route, transcaval access (TCv), with focus on procedural indications, technical considerations, and comparative outcomes. As TAVR technology, indications, and availability all expand, the knowledge and implementation of safe access are of utmost importance.

Cardiovascular diseases, including heart disease and stroke, are the world’s largest killers. More than 800,000 people die from cardiovascular disease each year in the United States (US). Heart disease is estimated to cost 200 billion US Dollars (USD) annually. Early identification of an inexpensive marker which allows for early intervention is the need of the hour. We present a case describing one such marker which can be easily appreciated on physical examination. Several studies have shown, not only the association between the presence of the diagonal earlobe crease (DELC) and coronary artery disease (CAD) but also a correlation with the extent and severity of CAD, independent of cardiovascular risk factors. Our patient who had no known CAD or risk factors presented with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). On exam, he was noted to have bilateral DELC. Over the course of his workup, he was noted to have severe triple vessel disease and eventually underwent surgical revascularization. We seek to increase awareness of this valuable physical sign which has far-reaching consequences in the prognostication and risk stratification of patients.

Background: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a commonly used treatment for severe aortic stenosis. As degenerative aortic stenosis is primarily a disease afflicting older adults, a frailty assessment is essential to patient selection and optimal periprocedural outcomes. Objective: This study aimed to enhance frailty assessments of TAVR candidates by integrating real-world structured and unstructured data. Methods: This study analyzed data from 14,000 patients between January 2018 and December 2019 to assess frailty in TAVR patients at the University of Florida. Frailty was identified using the Fried criteria, which includes weight loss, exhaustion, walking speed, grip strength, and physical activity. Latent Dirichlet allocation for topic modeling and Extreme Gradient Boosting for frailty prediction were applied to unstructured clinical notes and structured electronic health record (EHR) data. We also used least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression for feature selection. Model performance was rigorously evaluated using nested cross-validation, ensuring the generalizability of the findings. Results: Model performance was significantly improved by combining unstructured clinical notes with structured EHR data, achieving an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.82 (SD 0.07), which surpassed the EHR-only model’s area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.64 (SD 0.08). The Shapley Additive Explanations analysis found that congestive heart failure management, back problems, and atrial fibrillation were the top frailty predictors. Additionally, the latent Dirichlet allocation topic modeling identified 7 key topics, highlighting the role of specific medical treatments in predicting frailty. Conclusions: Integrating unstructured clinical notes and structured EHR data led to a notable enhancement in predicting frailty. This method shows great potential for standardizing frailty assessments using real-world data and improving patient selection for TAVR.

Asymptomatic severe aortic stenosis (AS) is characterized by a prolonged latent phase during which progressive valvular obstruction and myocardial remodeling may occur despite preserved left ventricular ejection fraction and the absence of overt clinical symptoms. Historically, management has favored watchful waiting until symptom onset or guideline-defined triggers emerge; however, recent randomized data challenge this conservative paradigm. This review summarizes the natural history, risk stratification, and contemporary management of asymptomatic severe AS, with a focus on emerging insights that inform the timing of intervention. We propose an individualized, contemporary framework for managing asymptomatic severe AS that integrates multimodal risk assessment, procedural risk, and shared decision-making, and we outline future directions aimed at refining patient selection and optimizing the personalized timing of intervention.