The safety and feasibility of retrograde balloon aortic valvuloplasty using the INOUE-BALLOON with severe aortic stenosis

In the transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) era, the indications for balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV) are increasing. Previously, the INOUE-BALLOON® (IB) was used only for antegrade BAV, but recently, it has also been used for retrograde BAV. However, the safety and feasibility of retrograde BAV using an IB are not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the safety and feasibility of retrograde BAV using an IB in elderly Japanese patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS). We compared 39 cases of retrograde BAV using an IB performed from June 2018 to September 2020 and 34 cases of antegrade BAV using an IB performed from August 2013 to May 2018. The total number of complications was lower in retrograde BAV than in antegrade BAV ( p = 0.020). The procedure time was significantly shorter in retrograde BAV than in antegrade BAV ( p