Virtual reality (VR) allows patients to be fully immerged in an engaging, interactive 3D environment. Its applications are broad and include treatment of phobias, stress-disorders, pain reduction. Recently, VR has been adopted in various medical procedures to reduce pre- and per-procedural anxiety. In TAVR, per-procedural VR immersion could potentially reduce patient anxiety leading to increased overall patient satisfaction. However, contemporary large scale, randomized evidence on VR application in TAVR is lacking.~The objective of this trial is to evaluate the effect of an immersive VR environment on procedural anxiety in patients undergoing TAVR under local anaesthesia in a randomized controlled setting. A total of 150 patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) who undergo transfemoral TAVR under local aneasthesia will be included. The main study endpoint is procedural anxiety assessed on a visual analogue scale (VAS) directly post-procedure.
The ART-VR Trial is an international multi-center, open label, randomized controlled trial evaluating the effect of an immersive VR environment on procedural anxiety in patients undergoing transfemoral aortic valve replacement (TAVR) under local anaesthesia.