A case of oral cancer with preoperative transcatheter aortic valve implantation for aortic stenosis: A case report

Aortic valve stenosis [or aortic stenosis, (AS)] is a risk factor in non-cardiac surgery. Guidelines from the European Heart Association recommended that AS treatment should be applied prior to non-cardiac surgery. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a method of minimally invasive AS treatment. The present study reports a case of tongue excision and neck dissection after TAVI for a patient with tongue cancer and AS. A 79-year-old woman was diagnosed with AS following preoperative examination for tongue cancer. The patient was judged as a high-risk case for open-heart surgery after consultation with staff at the University Hospital of The Ryukyus. It was concluded that TAVI should be performed prior to cancer surgery. On day 21 following TAVI, cancer surgery was performed and the patient was discharged from hospital 22 days after tongue cancer surgery. To the best of our knowledge, there is no report of oral cancer surgery after TAVI. TAVI is generally used as a short-term treatment strategy for AS associated with head and neck cancer due to its minimally invasive nature. In the present case, oral cancer surgery was performed closely following TAVI without serious complications. The case demonstrated that TAVI might be useful for severe AS patients with high surgical risk prior to cancer resection surgery. However, further cases are required to confirm the safety and effectiveness of TAVI treatment strategies.