Cardiologist Alain Cribier, Inventor of TAVR Technique, Dies
Alain Cribier, MD, who was internationally recognized for pioneering innovative treatments in cardiology, particularly the transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) technique, has died at age 79 years, according to an announcement from Rouen University Hospital. The field of interventional cardiology has lost a figure who, according to his peers, was a trailblazer who revolutionized the discipline.
“Alain Cribier has just passed away. I had the privilege of working with him for over 35 years. His genius and profound humanity have always struck me,” wrote Hélène Eltchaninoff, MD, head of the Department of Cardiology at the Rouen University Hospital, Rouen, France, on X. “For the Cardiology Department of Rouen University Hospital, his colleagues, friends, family, patients, and for me, the sorrow is immense.”
Cribier led the cardiology department for 20 years. Eltchaninoff, a longtime collaborator of Cribier, accompanied him in developing his innovative technologies, which primarily focused on treating cardiac valve disorders.
On the 20th anniversary of TAVR, she recounted how the team had remained united, placing complete trust in him even when the therapeutic approaches he proposed were viewed critically. The team persisted in its efforts, and TAVR is now widely used worldwide.
Arriving at the Rouen University Hospital as an intern in 1977, Cribier was soon sent to the United States to train in cardiac catheterization. Upon his return to France, he decided to use his new knowledge to find a way to reduce the high death rate of patients with symptomatic aortic stenosis.
With his team at the university hospital, he participated in the development of aortic dilatation by balloon, which led to the first percutaneous valvuloplasty in 1985. “At the time, inserting a balloon into a calcified valve was considered impossible to achieve. It was thought that the maneuver would immediately result in the patient’s death,” reported Cribier.
The success of the technique, which allowed the first operated patient to resume a normal life, led the team to treat several patients. After publishing the results, which had a significant international impact, the cardiologist and his team gained notoriety.
Cribier also focused on the mitral valve. In 1992, he performed the first valvuloplasty with a metallic dilator to treat mitral stenosis.
Because aortic stenosis tended to recur after dilatation, Cribier proposed the implantation of a heart valve into the aortic stenosis via catheterization in the early 1990s. Surgeons and industry professionals received the idea poorly, considering the procedure impossible and far too dangerous.
The cardiologist then decided to establish his own startup company named Percutaneous Valve Technologies in the United States in 1999. The company was responsible for the first models of the TAVR tricuspid valve. In April 2002, Cribier successfully implanted the first valve percutaneously at Rouen University Hospital in a man with inoperable aortic stenosis.
Since then, more than 3 million patients worldwide have been treated using this technique, which has been hailed a breakthrough in the management of severe aortic stenosis. For decades, only extensive thoracic surgery had been offered to these patients to replace the diseased valve.
Cribier’s contributions to interventional cardiology earned him numerous awards and regular recognition from the medical community. In 2022, he received a prestigious award from the American College of Cardiology. The following year, he was elected an honorary member of the Rouen Academy of Medicine.
His personality was also appreciated. “His human qualities must continue to inspire us, and his career must be an example for our entire community,” the French Society of Cardiology wrote on X.
“We have lost a great man. Alain Cribier was a revolutionary who dedicated his life to innovation, allowing millions of patients to live longer,” wrote the European Society of Cardiology on X.
This story was translated from the Medscape French edition using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
