Thourani, Vinod H.

Background: Vascular and bleeding complications were commonly reported in transcatheter aortic valve replacement clinical trials. Little is known about complication rates in contemporary US clinical practice or clinical outcomes associated with these complications. Methods: In the Society of Thoracic Surgeons/American College of Cardiology Transcatheter Valve Therapy Registry, we evaluated patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement from November 1, 2011 to June 30, 2016. The primary outcomes were in-hospital vascular complications and bleeding events. Secondary outcomes included all-cause mortality, stroke, and rehospitalization at 1 year. P values for trends were calculated for rates over time, and multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the association between vascular/bleeding complications and in-hospital clinical outcomes. Results: Overall, 34 893 patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement at 445 hospitals were analyzed. Of these, 9.3% (n=3257) experienced a vascular complication while 7.6% (n=2651) had an in-hospital bleeding event. Rates of both vascular complications and bleeding events decreased over time ( P value for trend test <0.0001); however, there was significant variation in rates across hospital sites (adjusted median rate, 11.4%; IQR, 8.9–14.5). Vascular complications were independently associated with 30-day death (adjusted HR, 2.23 [95% CI, 1.80–2.77]) and death (adjusted HR, 1.17 [95% CI, 1.05–1.30]) and rehospitalization (adjusted HR, 1.14 [95% CI, 1.07–1.22]) at 1 year. Bleeding events were also associated with 30-day death (adjusted HR, 3.71 [95% CI, 2.94–4.69]), and with death (adjusted HR, 1.39 [95% CI, 1.23–1.56]) and hospital readmission (adjusted HR, 1.19 [95% CI, 1.11–1.27]) at 1 year. Conclusions: In patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement in the US, vascular complications and in-hospital bleeding events were common, but rates have declined over time with significant variation in complication rates across hospital sites. Vascular and bleeding complications are both associated with worse short- and long-term clinical outcomes including all-cause mortality. Further innovation to reduce sheath sizes and optimize antithrombotic therapy is necessary to reduce the incidence of these detrimental complications.

Background Post‐myocardial infarction (MI) ventricular septal defects (PIVSD) are an uncommon but life‐threatening complication of acute MI. Although surgical closure has been the standard of care, mortality, and recurrence of VSD remain high even after emergent surgery. Transcatheter VSD closure (TCC) devices have become an alternative or adjunct to surgical closure. Methods Online database search was performed for studies that included adults with PIVSD who underwent medical treatment (MT) alone, surgical closure (SC) (early or late), and TCC (early, late, or for post‐surgical residual VSD). Results Twenty‐six studies were included with a total of 737 patients who underwent either MT ( N = 100), SC (early ( n = 167), late ( n = 100)), and TCC (early ( n = 176), late ( n = 115), or post‐surgical residual VSD ( n = 79)). The 30‐day mortality among MT group was 92 ± 6.3%, among SC was 61 ± 22.5% (early 56 ± 23%, late 41 ± 30%), and for all TCC patients was 33 ± 24% (early 54 ± 32.7%, late 16 ± 26%), and TCC for post‐surgical residual VSD 11 ± 34.9%. The mortality among overall SC, overall TCC and early TCC groups was significantly lower as compared with the MT ( P < 0.001 for all comparisons). The overall mortality among all TCC, and late TCC groups was significantly lower when compared with the late SC ( P < 0.0001, P < 0.0001, respectively). Conclusion Closure of PIVSD decreases mortality as compared with MT alone and should be attempted as early as possible after diagnosis. Selection of TCC versus SC should be based on factors including complexity of the defect, availability of closure devices, expertise of the operator, and clinical condition of patient.

Background— Diabetes mellitus (DM) adversely affects morbidity and mortality for cardiovascular diseases and procedures. Data evaluating the outcomes of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in diabetic patients are limited by small sample size and contradictory results. We aimed to establish the magnitude of risk and the incremental influence of insulin dependency by examining short- and long-term adverse outcomes according to DM status and therapy in the world’s largest TAVR registry. Methods and Results— We analyzed data from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons/American College of Cardiology Transcatheter Valve Therapy Registry. In-hospital mortality, 30-day mortality, and 1-year mortality after TAVR in patients with and without DM were evaluated using multivariate modeling. Among 47 643 patients treated with TAVR from November 2011 through September 2015 at 394 US hospitals, there were 17 849 (37.5%) patients with DM. Overall, 6600 of the diabetic patients were insulin treated (IT). Thirty-day mortality was 5.0% in patients with DM (6.1% in IT DM and 4.4% in non-IT DM; P <0.001) versus 5.9% in patients without DM ( P <0.001). Overall, 1-year mortality was 21.8% in patients with DM (24.8% in IT DM and 20.1% in non-IT DM; P <0.001) versus 21.2% in patients without DM ( P =0.274). In a multivariable model, DM was associated with increased 1-year mortality (hazard ratio, 1.30; 95% confidence interval, 1.13–1.49; P <0.001). Subgroup multivariable analysis showed stronger mortality association in IT diabetics (hazard ratio, 1.57; 95% confidence interval, 1.28–1.91; P <0.001) than in non-IT diabetics (hazard ratio, 1.17; 95% confidence interval, 1.00–1.38; P =0.052). Conclusions— Our data establish the magnitude of short- and long-term risk conferred by DM and the incremental risk conferred by insulin dependency in the performance of TAVR. Clinical Trial Registration— URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT01737528.

Background— Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is associated with increased cardiovascular mortality, and PAD risk factors overlap with those for aortic stenosis. The prevalence and outcomes associated with PAD in a population undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) are unknown. Methods and Results— Using the Society of Thoracic Surgeons/Transcatheter Valve Therapy Registry linked to Medicare claims data, we identified patients ≥65 years old undergoing TAVR from 2011 to 2015. We calculated hazard ratios for 1-year adverse outcomes, including mortality, readmission, and bleeding, for patients with PAD compared with those without, adjusting for baseline characteristics and postprocedure medications. Analyses were performed separately by access site (transfemoral and nontransfemoral). Of 19 660 patients undergoing transfemoral TAVR, 4810 (24.5%) had PAD; 3730 (47.9%) of 7780 patients undergoing nontransfemoral TAVR had PAD. In both groups, patients with PAD were significantly more likely to have coronary and carotid artery diseases. At 1-year follow-up, patients with PAD undergoing TAVR via transfemoral access had a higher incidence of death (16.8% versus 14.4%; adjusted hazard ratio, 1.14; P =0.01), readmission (45.5% versus 42.1%; hazard ratio, 1.11; P <0.001), and bleeding (23.1% versus 19.7%; hazard ratio, 1.18; P <0.001) compared with patients without PAD. Patients with PAD undergoing TAVR via nontransfemoral access did not have significantly higher rates of 1-year mortality or readmission compared with patients without PAD. Conclusions— PAD is common among patients undergoing commercial TAVR via transfemoral and nontransfemoral access. Among patients undergoing transfemoral TAVR, PAD is associated with a higher incidence of 1-year adverse outcomes compared with absence of PAD. Clinical Trial Registration— URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT01737528.

AbstractBackgroundTranscatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is typically performed under general anesthesia (GA). However, there is increasing data supporting the safety of performing TAVR under local anesthesia/conscious sedation (LA). We performed a meta‐analysis to gain better understanding of the safety and efficacy of LA versus GA in patients with severe aortic stenosis undergoing TAVR.Methods and ResultsWe comprehensively searched EMBASE, PubMed, and Web of Science. Effect sizes were summarized using risk ratios (RRs) difference of the mean (DM), and 95% CIs (confidence intervals) for dichotomous and continuous variables respectively. Twenty‐six studies and 10,572 patients were included in the meta‐analysis. The use of LA for TAVR was associated with lower overall 30‐day mortality (RR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.57–0.93; P = 0.01), use of inotropic/vasopressor drugs (RR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.28–0.72; P < 0.001), hospital length of stay (LOS) (DM, −2.09; 95% CI, −3.02 to −1.16; P < 0.001), intensive care unit LOS (DM, −0.18; 95% CI, −0.31 to −0.04; P = 0.01), procedure time (DM, −25.02; 95% CI, −32.70 to −17.35; P < 0.001); and fluoroscopy time (DM, −1.63; 95% CI, −3.02 to −0.24; P = 0.02). No differences were observed between LA and GA for stroke, cardiovascular mortality, myocardial infarction, permanent pacemaker implantation, acute kidney injury, paravalvular leak, vascular complications, major bleeding, procedural success, conduction abnormalities, and annular rupture.ConclusionOur meta‐analysis suggests that use of LA for TAVR is associated with a lower 30‐day mortality, shorter procedure time, fluoroscopy time, ICU LOS, hospital length of stay, and reduced need for inotropic support.

Background— The use of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) to treat aortic stenosis in the United States is growing, yet little is known about the variation in procedural outcomes in community practice. We developed a TAVR in-hospital mortality risk model and used it to quantify variation in mortality rates across United States (US) TAVR centers. Methods and Results— We analyzed data from 22 248 TAVR procedures performed at 318 sites participating in the Society of Thoracic Surgeons/American College of Cardiology Transcatheter Valve Therapy Registry (November 2011 to October 2014). A Bayesian hierarchical model was developed to estimate hospital-specific risk-adjusted mortality rates adjusting for 40 patient baseline factors. A total of 1130 in-hospital deaths (5.1%) were observed. Reliability-adjusted risk-adjusted mortality rate estimates ranged from 3.4% to 7.7% with an interquartile range of 4.8% to 5.4%. A patient’s predicted odds of dying was 80% higher if treated by a hospital 1 standard deviation above the mean compared with a hospital 1 standard deviation below the mean (odds ratio =1.8; 95% credible interval, 1.4%–2.2%). Conclusions— Risk modeling of TAVR in-hospital mortality revealed variation in risk-adjusted mortality rates during the US early commercial experience. Transcatheter Valve Therapy Registry analyses using this model will support research, feedback reporting, and the identification of factors associated with quality.

Background: In the initial PARTNER trial (Placement of Aortic Transcatheter Valves) of transcatheter aortic valve replacement for high-risk (HR) and inoperable patients, mortality at 1 year was 24% in HR and 31% in inoperable patients. A recent report of the 30-day outcomes with the low-profile SAPIEN 3 transcatheter aortic valve replacement system demonstrated very low rates of adverse events, but little is known about the longer-term outcomes with this device. Methods: Between October 2013 and September 2014, 583 HR (65%) or inoperable (35%) patients were treated via the transfemoral (84%) or transapical/transaortic (16%) access route at 29 US sites. Major clinical events at 1 year were adjudicated by an independent clinical events committee, and echocardiographic results were analyzed by a core laboratory. Results: Baseline characteristics included age of 83 years, 42% female, and median Society of Thoracic Surgeons score of 8.4%. At the 1-year follow-up, survival (all-cause) was 85.6% for all patients, 87.3% in the HR subgroup, and 82.3% in the inoperable subgroup. Survival free of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in the transfemoral patients from the HR cohort was 87.7% and 93.3%, respectively. There was no severe paravalvular leak. Moderate paravalvular leak (2.7%) was associated with an increase in mortality at 1 year, whereas mild paravalvular leak had no significant association with mortality. Symptomatic improvement as assessed by the percentage of patients in New York Heart Association class III and IV (90.1% to 7.7% at 1 year; P <0.0001) and by Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire overall summary score (improved from 46.9 to 72.4; P <0.0001) was marked. Multivariable predictors of 1-year mortality included alternative access, Society of Thoracic Surgeons score, and disabling stroke. Conclusions: In this large, adjudicated registry of SAPIEN 3 HR and inoperable patients, the very low rates of important complications resulted in a strikingly low mortality rate at 1 year. Between 30 and 365 days, the incidence of moderate paravalvular aortic regurgitation did not increase, and no association between mild paravalvular leak and 1-year mortality was observed, although a small increase in disabling stroke occurred. These results, which likely reflect device iteration and procedural evolution, support the use of transcatheter aortic valve replacement as the preferred therapy in HR and inoperable patients with aortic stenosis. Clinical Trial Registration : URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT01314313.