Future Directions. Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation for Low-risk Patients: Inevitable Evolution or a Step Too Far?

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement has become the treatment of choice for inoperable and high-risk patients with symptomatic aortic stenosis, and is becoming more and more common as the first choice for intermediate-risk patients as well. The next step in this evolution would be the expansion of treatment indications to low-risk patients. Successful treatment of this patient population will require setting new standards in terms of clinical outcomes and cost effectiveness. In this review, we present the main challenges that need to be addressed before transcatheter aortic valve replacement can be applied as a standard treatment for low-risk patients.