Authors

• Matija Vrbanić — University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia — ORCID: 0000-0002-3229-9436
• Kristijana Radić — University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia — ORCID: 0000-0002-6098-254X
• Ivica Benko — University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia — ORCID: 0000-0002-1878-0880
• Ljiljana Švađumović — University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia — ORCID: 0000-0002-9068-2716
• Vlatka Funduk — University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia
• Biljana Šego — University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia — ORCID: 0000-0002-0806-1233
• Mirjana Slanc — University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia — ORCID: 0000-0002-6247-4696
• Mirela Adamović — University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia — ORCID: 0000-0003-4922-7436
• Zoran Marić — University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia — ORCID: 0000-0002-9121-4631
• Ivana Jelinek — University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia

Keywords

severe aortic stenosis, transcatheter aortic valve implantation, day hospital

DOI

Full Text

Severe aortic stenosis is becoming an increasingly common disease in an increasing number of patients older than 75 years. In addition to patients with severe comorbidities and high or prohibited surgical risk for treatment of severe aortic stenosis, these patients could be candidates for TAVI (transcatheter aortic valve implantation). ( 1 , 2 ) With the increase in the number of candidates for TAVI in Croatia in the last 2 years, we can see a trend of a significant increase in the number of procedures, and during 2020 for the first time in Croatia, more than 200 procedures were performed in one year, reaching the minimum European average. In recent years, emphasis has been placed on minimally invasive, “accelerated” procedures for the treatment of these patients, with the least need for treatment in the intensive care unit and the shortest possible hospital stay. The COVID-19 pandemic has further increased the need for as few hospitalizations as possible and as short hospital stays as possible, so an increase in the number of TAVI candidates is expected in the future. Here we show the role of the staff at the day hospital and the cardiology department in the fastest and most accurate selection and treatment of patients for TAVI, to short hospital treatment, with as few complications and a short stay at intensive care units. This report shows the role of the day hospital in rapid processing and selection of treatment strategy as also a vascular approach, to reduce the possibility of complications during the stay at the ward, as well as in the invasive cardiology laboratory, and subsequent monitoring of treatment outcomes and long-term success.