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The following is a summary of “Postinterventional surveillance at a dedicated valve unit is safe and reduces intensive care utilization after TAVR,” published in the June 2025 issue of Clinical Research in Cardiology by Gonska et al. 

Postprocedural care after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) typically involves 24–48 hours of monitoring in an intensive care unit (ICU), prompting the establishment of a dedicated valve unit (VU) to reduce intensive care needs.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to compare the patient outcomes before and after the implementation of the VU for TAVR care.  

The results showed that 796 consecutive patients undergoing TAVR were included, with 592 treated during routine intensive care monitoring (ICM) and 204 after VU implementation. The overall event rates were comparable between groups, with 182 of 592 patients of ICM (30.7%) and 60 of 204 patients of VU (29.4%) reaching study-specific endpoints (P=0.87). Patients in the VU group demonstrated a nonsignificant trend toward lower delirium rates compared to patients of ICM (1% vs 3.5%, P=0.06).  

Investigators concluded that introducing a VU with defined criteria for ICU surveillance after TAVR reduced ICU admissions by 73% without increasing adverse event rates. 

Source: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00392-025-02676-7