Coronary Artery Disease Assessment Strategies in TAVI Patients

Coronary artery disease (CAD) and aortic stenosis frequently coincide. Before valve intervention, invasive coronary angiography is routinely performed to assess coronary status.

As the impact of percutaneous revascularization on clinical outcomes beyond symptom improvement is subject to debate and treatment of aortic stenosis itself reduces ischemic burden and symptoms, the benefit/risk balance of routine invasive coronary angiography prior to transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is unclear.

The CAT Trial aims to compare a non-invasive risk management strategy to routine invasive coronary angiography for the assessment of coronary artery disease in patients with severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis selected to undergo TAVI with respect to adverse clinical outcomes at 3 years (primary objective) and patient reported outcome measures (secondary objective).