Aortic valvuloplasty via the radial artery: Case reports and review of the literature.

The use of balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV) has increased with the development of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) to medically optimize patients prior to procedure. It has been traditionally done by a retrograde approach via the femoral artery or an antegrade approach via the femoral vein. Large sheaths have been required with traditional balloons which require large vessel access. Use of a low profile compliant valvuloplasty balloon has been demonstrated to have adequate BAV results with smaller sheath sizes. We review the literature and report two cases where low profile compliant valvuloplasty balloons were used to perform BAV via the radial artery in patients without adequate femoral arterial access.