Experts are dismayed, disappointed, and confused, but many say this isn’t the end of cerebral embolic protection for TAVI.
CHICAGO, IL—A large-scale, randomized trial testing routine cerebral embolic protection during TAVI has once again failed to show the device reduces the risk of stroke.
The British Heart Foundation’s BHF PROTECT-TAVI trial, which was presented today as a late-breaking clinical trial at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) 2025 Scientific Session and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, comes 18 months after PROTECTED TAVR failed to show that embolic protection reduced the risk of stroke.
The two trials, which in combination include more than 10,000 randomized patients, have left operators scratching their heads about why the device, which does capture dislodged…