Cardiac fibrosis as a predictor for sudden cardiac death after transcatheter aortic valve implantation

Cardiac fibrosis plays a major pathophysiological role in any form of chronic heart disease, and high levels are associated with poor outcome. Diffuse and focal cardiac fibrosis are different subtypes, which have different pathomechanisms and prognostic implications. The total fibrosis burden in endomyocardial biopsy tissue was recently proved to play an independent prognostic role in aortic stenosis patients after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).