3D printing assisted transcatheter aortic valve replacement: tool or fashion?

The aim of the project is to determine in a randomized trial whether 3D printed models allow the operator to perform transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVI) more efficiently compared to using only traditional imaging methods (CT and cardiac echo). Procedural aspects will be analyzed, such as: treatment time, volume of contrast used, fluoroscopy time, dose of radiation and TAVI results based on endpoints defined by Valve Academic Research Consortium 2 (VARC2). The project will be carried out in the form of a prospective randomized trial involving 60 patients qualified for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) due to severe aortic stenosis (AS) at the 1st Academic and Clinical Department of Cardiology of the Medical University of Warsaw. Patients will be randomly divided into two groups, the first of which will be prepared for TAVI based on the standard cardiac echo and CT, and the second, in which the treatment planning will be additionally enriched with a 3D printed heart model. Additionally, the usefulness of the personalized heart model as a tool in the process of patient-doctor communication will be determined. The aim of the work is to show whether the use of 3D printing as an additional method of visualization will allow to improve the course of implantation by influencing procedural aspects and the possibility of translating it, for example, into reducing the risk of acute kidney damage.