Is everyone eligible for a Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation?

is everybody eligible for a TAVI? So, in strict terms, yes, everyone can have TAVI, but we reserve this treatment for older, frail patients. And the reason for it is because TAVI is a relatively new technology. We do not have a long-term data about the longevity of these TAVI valves. And hence, you know, it is generally reserved for patients who are in their 80s or in the late 70s and are not deemed suitable candidates for an operation. Theoretically, you could offer this valve to anyone with aortic valve disease. However, as these valves, I've already mentioned, we don't have long-term data about the longevity of these valves. So offering this procedure to a 40-year-old would not make sense because in a 40-year-old, this valve is likely to degenerate much quicker, much earlier, and they may require a further intervention. The rationale for offering this procedure to elderly patients is that in them, as we're not expecting them to live for a long time, the valve would generally see them through without the need for a further intervention. And that's why it is offered to people in the 80s and late 70s. Obviously the technology is advancing. They are coming up with new valves and these new valves are likely to be better than the older versions of the valve or the valves that we are using at the moment. And there is a possibility that in future we could be offering TAVI to relatively fit individuals who who have aortic valve disease in the sixth and fifth decade of life. In some countries around the world, for example, in Germany, they're even offering it to people in their 40s, but I think that's a debatable indication. And at the moment in the United Kingdom, we are not offering it to younger patients with no contraindications to having a conventional surgical operation.