Inova among the first to offer ShortCut technology for valve-in-valve TAVR redos

In 2025, Inova’s expert structural heart and valve disease team began using Pi-Cardia’s ShortCut™ catheter, the only FDA-approved device for leaflet modification in valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), also known as a “redo” TAVR. Inova is among the first health systems in the nation to use this technology, which is the only device that has been approved for this application.

Increasing demand for TAVR redos

Aortic valves are subject to intense pressures with every heartbeat, and typical replacement valves last 10 to 12 years. That means patients who undergo aortic valve replacement – whether TAVR or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) – at less advanced ages may need to eventually have their aging valves replaced. There is a growing demand for procedures to replace aging valves, but historically, there haven’t been many options.

“Generally, the biggest risk with a redo TAVR or placing a TAVR inside an existing SAVR is that the anatomy has to be just right in order to avoid occluding the coronary arteries when a valve is placed inside another valve,” said Matthew Sherwood, MD, System Director for Interventional Cardiology and Co-Director of Inova’s Structural Heart Disease Program. “ShortCut enables teams to modify the leaflets of an existing TAVR or SAVR valve, so a second valve can be placed safely without increasing the risk of coronary artery obstruction.”

Previously, patients whose valves were aging would undergo open-heart revision surgery. If they were not good candidates for surgery, they had few safe options left. Enabling safe valve-in-valve procedures for patients with TAVRs or SAVRs solves a significant problem. The addition of Shortcut catheter technology to a valve-in-valve procedure takes just five to 15 minutes longer than a traditional TAVR procedure.

A national leader in TAVR for over 10 years

Since 2012, Inova Schar Heart and Vascular has been a national leader in TAVR and was the first heart center in Virginia to offer TAVR through landmark clinical research studies that led to TAVR’s initial approval, as well as its expanded indications. In 2019, TAVR was approved for patients at low surgical risk, making the procedure available to patients in all risk categories. Today, TAVR is the dominant method of aortic valve replacement, and Inova remains one of the highest-volume TAVR centers in the country. And as TAVR device technology continues to advance, and indications continue to expand, Inova remains at the leading edge.

Being a national TAVR leader offers patients several benefits:

• Access to the most advanced TAVR valves
• The option to participate in clinical trials
• A streamlined patient evaluation process
• A multidisciplinary team of structural heart specialists who collaborate closely

TAVR expertise leads to increased options for patients

Inova Schar Heart and Vascular’s team continues to lead the way in TAVR technology, providing options for patients who might otherwise have needed riskier and more invasive surgery.

“We’re proud to be able to provide a full range of services including redo TAVR, TAVR-in-TAVR and TAVR-in-SAVR options to the vast majority of patients,” Dr. Sherwood said.