To determine the safety and feasibility of over-expansion of right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduits during transcatheter pulmonary valve placement.

Transcatheter pulmonary valve placement is an alternative to surgical pulmonary valve replacement. Traditionally, it was thought to be unsafe to expand a conduit to >110% of its original size.

This retrospective cohort study from two centers includes patients with right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduits with attempted transcatheter pulmonary valve placement from 2010 to 2017. Demographic, procedural, echocardiographic and follow-up data, and complications were evaluated in control and overdilation (to >110% original conduit size) groups.

One hundred and seventy-two patients (51 overdilation and 121 control) had attempted transcatheter pulmonary valve placement (98% successful). The overdilation group was younger (11.2 versus 16.7 years, p < 0.001) with smaller conduits (15 versus 22 mm, p < 0.001); however, the final valve size was not significantly different (19.7 versus 20.2 mm, p = 0.2). Baseline peak echocardiographic gradient was no different (51.8 versus 55.6 mmHg, p = 0.3). Procedural complications were more frequent in overdilation (18%) than control (7%) groups (most successfully addressed during the procedure). One patient from each group required urgent surgical intervention, with no procedural mortality. Follow-up echocardiographic peak gradients were similar (24.1 versus 26 mmHg, p = 0.5).

Over-expansion of right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduits during transcatheter pulmonary valve placement can be performed successfully. Procedural complications are more frequent with conduit overdilation, but there was no difference in the rate of life-threatening complications. There was no difference in valve function at most recent follow-up, and no difference in rate of reintervention. The long-term outcomes of transcatheter pulmonary valve placement with conduit over-expansion requires further study.

A 10% prevalence of intracranial aneurysms in patients with coarctation of the aorta has been described in a few studies. Our objective is to describe the rate of intracranial aneurysm detection in patients with coarctation of the aorta in the current era. We hypothesise that, with earlier detection and coarctation of the aorta intervention, the rate of intracranial aneurysm is lower than previously reported and screening imaging may only be warranted in older patients or patients with certain risk factors.

This is a retrospective study of 102 patients aged 13 years and older with coarctation who underwent brain computed tomography angiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or magnetic resonance angiography between January, 2000 and February, 2018.

The median age of coarctation repair was 4.4 months (2 days–47 years) and the initial repair was primarily surgical (90.2%). There were 11 former smokers, 4 current smokers, and 13 patients with ongoing hypertension. Imaging modalities included computed tomography angiography (13.7%), MRI (41.2%), and magnetic resonance angiography (46.1%), performed at a median age of 33.3 years, 22.4 years, and 25 years, respectively. There were 42 studies performed for screening, 48 studies performed for neurologic symptoms, and 12 studies performed for both screening and symptoms. There were no intracranial aneurysms detected in this study.

These results suggest that the rate of intracranial aneurysms may be lower than previously reported and larger studies should explore the risk of intracranial aneurysms in coarctation of the aorta in the current era.