부산대학교 도서관

Introduction Severe aortic stenosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The existing treatment pathway for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) traditionally relies on tertiary Heart Valve Centre workup. However, this has been associated with delays to treatment, in breach of British Cardiovascular Intervention Society targets. A novel pathway with emphasis on comprehensive patient workup at a local centre, alongside close collaboration with a Heart Valve Centre, may help reduce the time to TAVI.Methods The centre performing local workup implemented a novel TAVI referral pathway. Data were collected retrospectively for all outpatients referred for consideration of TAVI to a Heart Valve Centre from November 2020 to November 2021. The main outcome of time to TAVI was calculated as the time from Heart Valve Centre referral to TAVI, or alternative intervention, expressed in days. For the centre performing local workup, referral was defined as the date of multidisciplinary team discussion. For this centre, a total pathway time from echocardiographic diagnosis to TAVI was also evaluated. A secondary outcome of the proportion of referrals proceeding to TAVI at the Heart Valve Centre was analysed.Results Mean±SD time from referral to TAVI was significantly lower at the centre performing local workup, when compared with centres with traditional referral pathways (32.4±64 to 126±257 days, p