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  • Editorial: The Ongoing Conundrum of Atrioventricular Block Requiring Permanent Pacemaker Implantation After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

    Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has become the guideline-directed standard of treatment of severe aortic stenosis in high-risk surgical patients and an accepted alternative to surgery in low and intermediate risk patients  . One of the major complications of TAVR is complete atrioventricular block and the ensuing need for a permanent pacemaker (PPM)  . The pathophysiology of this complication is multifactorial and related to the proximity of the conduction system to the aortic root, the mechanical forces of the bioprosthetic valve on this sensitive area and the health of the conduction system. There is increasing awareness that the injury to the conduction system may not only be apparent in the immediate period following the procedure, but these patients are also at increased risk of later electrical conduction abnormalities and even sudden cardiac death during follow up  . There has been increasing research trying to identify patients at risk for early and later atrioventricular block.

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