In the relatively young discipline of transcatheter therapies for valvular heart disease, one tradition has emerged – the annual PCR London Valves meeting, taking place for the first time this year in Berlin, Germany. An official course of the EAPCI, the PCR London Valves programme is designed to provide attendees with a global overview of this increasingly mainstream clinical activity and new innovations in the field, all concentrated into three days of live cases, educational programmes, presentations and debates. Since the earliest days of PCR London Valves, EuroIntervention, the official journal of the EAPCI, has produced a dedicated supplement to the regular edition of the journal. This acts as a complement to the Course itself, providing the participants with a publication that is a compendium and reference work of the current state of the art in valve treatment.
Patrick W. Serruys, Editor-in-Chief of EuroIntervention, has once again invited the PCR London Valve Course Directors to be Guest Editors for this supplement, ensuring that it mirrors the interests and direction of the Course itself. This year, the general theme of the meeting is “The evolution of percutaneous valve therapy from TAVI to mitral intervention”. We hope the following pages will illuminate many aspects of this topic.
The interventional approach has become the standard therapy for mitral stenosis and pulmonary valve disease and a recognised alternative to surgery in inoperable and high-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis. It is also emerging as a treatment option in mitral and tricuspid regurgitation. Rapid technological developments in the last decade and newly affirmed methods of team working and case selection have set the stage for a revolution in the management of valvular heart disease.
The Editors have put together a supplement that is a comprehensive review of the interventional approach to valvular heart disease as practised today. These articles, authored by some of the world’s most recognised specialists, address current controversies, unanswered questions, latest technological advances and underlying clinical data from pivotal randomised controlled trials and large-scale international registries.
Looking at the table of contents, we begin with general perspectives in valvular heart interventions, followed by dedicated sections focusing on mitral, aortic or tricuspid valve interventions, as well as a section looking at the issues of the design and durability of different devices. We have also created a special “Device Parade” offering brief summaries of the different devices currently or soon to be in use, each described by a specialist with clinical experience in their use. We hope you will find this section a valuable quick reference given the increasing array of devices now entering or available in the clinical market.
This supplement would not have been possible without the commitment of our colleagues worldwide. We wish to thank them –many of them gave their time at very short notice– for having freely shared their knowledge and expertise. Like the Heart Team itself, it is by working together that we can move forward in the care we offer our patients. PCR London Valves remains dedicated to the transmission of clinical and theoretical knowledge. This supplement is designed to be an essential part of that undertaking.
