Results of the Shortcut study, presented last week at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics meeting in San Francisco, indicated that cutting balloon angioplasty matched intravascular lithotripsy in coronary artery preparation of calcification for stent placement.

The prevalence of valvular heart disease in the U.S. is tough to peg with any great precision, but an extrapolation of data from a new study would put the number at roughly 10.6 million people, a staggering number when the clinical and fiscal implications are considered.

Stakeholders of all stripes have wondered whether transcatheter aortic valve replacement devices could match their surgically implanted cousins for device durability, but seven-year data from the Partner 3 trial seems to suggest that patients, physicians, payers and regulators need not fret as the topline numbers showed no statistically significant difference for outcomes such as mortality and morbidity.