Understanding Aortic Stenosis and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in Women

The impact of sex on the baseline characteristics, morphology, and clinical presentation of degenerative aortic stenosis (AS) is well-documented but remains poorly understood. Unlike valve surgery, for which patients have been predominantly male, percutaneous treatment of AS has shown balanced representation of both sexes, with women demonstrating greater benefit from transfemoral aortic valve replacement compared to surgical treatment. This review explores sex-specific differences in the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnostic challenges, treatment approaches, and clinical outcomes of degenerative AS. Furthermore, it addresses technical, sex-specific considerations in transfemoral aortic valve replacement, including preprocedural screening, device selection, implantation strategy, and postprocedural management.