Using cerebral embolic protection devices during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) procedures does not reduce a patient's risk of experiencing a stroke, according to a large UK clinical trial led by researchers from the Radcliffe Department of Medicine (RDM) and Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust.
The findings of the British Heart Foundation-funded BHF-PROTECT-TAVI trial have been presented at the American College of Cardiology conference and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
RDM's Professor Rajesh Kharbanda, Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and OUH Consultant Cardiologist, led the trial. He said: 'The BHF-PROTECT-TAVI trial was the largest study to date to investigate the utility of CEP devices in TAVI, finding no difference in the number of strokes whether the device was used or not.
'Our trial made use of NHS research infrastructure to recruit over 7,600 participants over four years – around 30 per cent of all TAVI patients in the UK during that period. This trial provides persuasive evidence that the routine use of CEP offers no benefit on stroke risk for TAVI patients. However, we need to better understand which patients are at high-risk of stroke and whether embolic protection may work in those patients. This will be the basis of our ongoing research.'
Read the full story on the Radcliffe Department of Medicine website.