Acurate Neo2 for valve-in-valve treatment of degenerated 3F Enable sutureless bioprosthetic valve in nonagenarian patient: a case report

Sutureless bioprosthetic valves (SBVs) are engineered to enable a less invasive surgical valve replacement procedure in patients at high surgical risk. Valve degeneration is a relatively common occurrence across all types of surgical valves, including SBVs. Valve-in-valve (ViV) procedures are increasingly becoming the preferred treatment for many cases of valve degeneration due to their minimally invasive nature and favourable long-term outcomes. However, the specific structural characteristics of SBVs present challenges for ViV procedures, and the evidence on this subject remains limited.

A 91-year-old man was admitted to our hospital presenting with dyspnoea due to severe aortic regurgitation in a degenerated 3F Enable sutureless valve. Valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve implantation (ViV-TAVI) was successfully performed using a self-expanding Acurate Neo2 valve, yielding good haemodynamic results without overt interaction between the prosthesis. A 6-month follow-up echocardiogram confirmed excellent valve performance.

ViV-TAVI is a well-established treatment for bioprosthetic valve failure in high-risk patients. However, sutureless valve degeneration presents a challenging scenario for ViV procedures, with only a limited number of cases performed using the Acurate platform. In this case, we demonstrated the technical feasibility of ViV using the Acurate system in a less explored surgical sutureless bioprosthesis.