When should a baseline echocardiogram be done following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR)?

• A. Between 6 weeks and 3 months
• B. Within 1 week
• C. At 1 year
• D. Immediately after the procedure

Answer: (A)

Immediately after TAVR, valve position, edema, and loading conditions can skew measurements of gradients, valve area, and the extent of paravalvular leak. Waiting until the heart has stabilized allows the prosthesis to settle and the LV to remodel, producing a clearer, more reliable picture of prosthetic valve function. A clock of roughly six weeks to three months provides a practical window where these parameters have settled enough to establish a true baseline for future comparisons and for guiding ongoing management. Doing it much sooner risks capturing transient post-procedural changes, while waiting longer than three months delays important surveillance and comparison points.