“All of the studies, all the clinical trials we always discuss, have been done in the setting of hospitals where the procedure was done together with a surgeon on site. That’s why we have these excellent results,” Dr. Falk added.
Dr. Eggebrecht replied, “We’re having a scientific discussion here, and I think our data clearly show that you can construct a successful heart team even though you don’t have a cardiac surgery department on site.”
An Israeli cardiologist in the audience said a similar effort is underway in his country to open up TAVR to hospitals without an on-site cardiac surgeon. His objection is that, at least in Israel, a hospital with no on-site cardiac surgery is a marker for a TAVR center that is low volume, is late to embrace TAVR, and has cardiologists who are probably still early on the procedural learning curve.
Dr. Eggebrecht said that this is not the case in Germany, where some of the most experienced TAVR operators work at sites without a cardiac surgery department.
He reported that his study was partially funded by the German Cardiac Society, and he had no financial conflicts.
Simultaneously with his presentation, the study was published online (Eur Heart J. 2016 May 17. pii: ehw190).