Faza, Nadeen Nader

Background Coronary microvascular function and hemodynamics may play a role in coronary circulation and myocardial remodeling in patients with aortic stenosis (AS). We aimed to evaluate the relationship between myocardial blood flow and myocardial function in patients with AS, no AS, and aortic valve sclerosis. Methods and Results We included consecutive patients who had resting transthoracic echocardiography and clinically indicated positron emission tomography myocardial perfusion imaging to capture their left ventricular ejection fraction, global longitudinal strain (GLS), and myocardial flow reserve (MFR). The primary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular event (all‐cause mortality, myocardial infarction, or late revascularization). There were 2778 patients (208 with aortic sclerosis, 39 with prosthetic aortic valve, 2406 with no AS, and 54, 49, and 22 with mild, moderate, and severe AS, respectively). Increasing AS severity was associated with impaired MFR ( P <0.001) and GLS ( P <0.001), even when perfusion was normal. Statistically significant associations were noted between MFR and GLS, MFR and left ventricular ejection fraction, and MFR and left ventricular ejection fraction reserve. After a median follow‐up of 349 (interquartile range, 116–662) days, 4 (7.4%), 5 (10.2%), and 6 (27.3%) patients experienced a major adverse cardiovascular event in the mild, moderate, and severe AS groups, respectively. In a matched‐control analysis, patients with mild‐to‐moderate AS had higher rates of impaired MFR (52.9% versus 39.9%; P =0.048) and major adverse cardiovascular event (11.8% versus 3.0%; P =0.002). Conclusions Despite lack of ischemia, as severity of AS increased, MFR decreased and GLS worsened, reflecting worse coronary microvascular health and myocardial remodeling. Positron emission tomography–derived MFR showed a significant independent correlation with left ventricular ejection fraction and GLS. Patients with prosthetic aortic valve showed a high prevalence of impaired MFR.

Introduction: Obesity is associated with a higher burden of atrial fibrillation (AF) and related complications. Hypothesis: Bariatric surgery in patients with AF is associated with a reduction in mortality and long-term complications at 1 year. Methods: Patients with AF who underwent bariatric surgery were identified by analyzing the nationwide readmission database and incorporating the validated ICD-10 CM codes from October 2015 to December 2019. We performed the propensity score matching to adjust the confounders and cox proportional hazard regression to generate hazard ratios. Moreover, we generated Kaplan Meier curves for time-to-event analysis. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality at 1 year, whereas secondary endpoints were ischemic stroke, major bleeding, and AF readmission at 1 year. Results: Out of 892488 obese patients with AF, 18766 underwent bariatric surgery. After propensity score matching, 18764 patients were identified in each group. At 1-year, patients undergoing bariatric surgery had a significant reduction in mortality (2.18% vs. 2.73%, HR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.85-0.96, p=0.001). Additionally, risk of ischemic stroke was also reduced (1.98% vs. 2.29%, HR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.86-0.97, p=0.01), whereas no difference was noted in AF readmissions (4.02% vs. 3.34%, HR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.92-1.04, p=0.49) and risk of major bleeding was increased (5.74% vs. 3.42%, HR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.10-1.25, p<0.0001) at 1 year in AF patients with bariatric surgery. (Figure 1) Conclusions: Bariatric surgery in patients with AF was associated with a reduction in 1-year mortality and ischemic stroke. However, the risk of major bleeding was noted to be increased and no difference was noted in AF readmission at 1 year.

Importance In patients with severe aortic valve stenosis at intermediate surgical risk, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) with a self-expanding supra-annular valve was noninferior to surgery for all-cause mortality or disabling stroke at 2 years. Comparisons of longer-term clinical and hemodynamic outcomes in these patients are limited. Objective To report prespecified secondary 5-year outcomes from the Symptomatic Aortic Stenosis in Intermediate Risk Subjects Who Need Aortic Valve Replacement (SURTAVI) randomized clinical trial. Design, Setting, and Participants SURTAVI is a prospective randomized, unblinded clinical trial. Randomization was stratified by investigational site and need for revascularization determined by the local heart teams. Patients with severe aortic valve stenosis deemed to be at intermediate risk of 30-day surgical mortality were enrolled at 87 centers from June 19, 2012, to June 30, 2016, in Europe and North America. Analysis took place between August and October 2021. Intervention Patients were randomized to TAVR with a self-expanding, supra-annular transcatheter or a surgical bioprosthesis. Main Outcomes and Measures The prespecified secondary end points of death or disabling stroke and other adverse events and hemodynamic findings at 5 years. An independent clinical event committee adjudicated all serious adverse events and an independent echocardiographic core laboratory evaluated all echocardiograms at 5 years. Results A total of 1660 individuals underwent an attempted TAVR (n = 864) or surgical (n = 796) procedure. The mean (SD) age was 79.8 (6.2) years, 724 (43.6%) were female, and the mean (SD) Society of Thoracic Surgery Predicted Risk of Mortality score was 4.5% (1.6%). At 5 years, the rates of death or disabling stroke were similar (TAVR, 31.3% vs surgery, 30.8%; hazard ratio, 1.02 [95% CI, 0.85-1.22]; P = .85). Transprosthetic gradients remained lower (mean [SD], 8.6 [5.5] mm Hg vs 11.2 [6.0] mm Hg; P &amp;lt; .001) and aortic valve areas were higher (mean [SD], 2.2 [0.7] cm 2 vs 1.8 [0.6] cm 2 ; P &amp;lt; .001) with TAVR vs surgery. More patients had moderate/severe paravalvular leak with TAVR than surgery (11 [3.0%] vs 2 [0.7%]; risk difference, 2.37% [95% CI, 0.17%- 4.85%]; P = .05). New pacemaker implantation rates were higher for TAVR than surgery at 5 years (289 [39.1%] vs 94 [15.1%]; hazard ratio, 3.30 [95% CI, 2.61-4.17]; log-rank P &amp;lt; .001), as were valve reintervention rates (27 [3.5%] vs 11 [1.9%]; hazard ratio, 2.21 [95% CI, 1.10-4.45]; log-rank P = .02), although between 2 and 5 years only 6 patients who underwent TAVR and 7 who underwent surgery required a reintervention. Conclusions and Relevance Among intermediate-risk patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis, major clinical outcomes at 5 years were similar for TAVR and surgery. TAVR was associated with superior hemodynamic valve performance but also with more paravalvular leak and valve reinterventions.