Abstract

Abstract Background While symptomatic severe aortic stenosis (AS) carries a worse prognosis and early intervention is favoured, it is always assumed that patients with moderate AS are more stable and their disease progression can be monitored yearly. However, it is known that patients with moderate AS have a higher risk of cardiovascular events but is unclear if other factors may also affect the overall prognosis. Purpose In this multicentre registry of patients with moderate AS, the prognostic value of a new staging classification on the extent of cardiac damage was examined. Methods Based on the echocardiographic findings at the time of diagnosis of moderate AS (valve area >1.0 and ≤1.5 cm2), they were re-classified into five stages depending on the extra-aortic valvular cardiac damage: no signs of cardiac damage (Stage 0), left ventricular (LV) damage [LV ejection fraction <50%, LV mass index >95 g/m2 for women or >115 g/m2 for men or E/e' >14] (Stage 1), mitral valve or left atrial (LA) damage [LA volume index >34 ml/m2 or mitral regurgitation ≥grade 3 or presence of atrial fibrillation] (Stage 2), tricuspid valve or pulmonary artery vasculature damage [systolic pulmonary arterial pressure ≥60 mmHg or tricuspid regurgitation ≥grade 3] (Stage 3), or right ventricular damage [tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion <17 mm] (Stage 4). The clinical endpoint was all-cause mortality. The association between the extent of cardiac damage and all-cause mortality was assessed by the Kaplan Meier method using log-rank test. Results Of the included 522 patients with moderate AS (age 71±11 years, 54% males), 12% (63) of patients were re-classified as Stage 0, 30% (157) in Stage 1, 47% (245) in Stage 2, 6% (31) in Stage 3 and 5% (26) in Stage 4. During follow-up, 43% (226) of patients underwent surgical or transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Over a median follow-up of 6.2 [interquartile range 3.2–9.0] years, 254 (49%) patients died. The cumulative event rates for all-cause mortality increased with increasing stage, particularly for Stages ≥2: 39% for Stage 0, 55% for Stage 1, 67% for Stage 2, 68% for Stage 3 and 57% for Stage 4, respectively (Figure, log-rank test p=0.001). Cumulative death rates after re-staging Conclusion In a real-world registry of patients with moderate AS patients, worsening extra-aortic valvular cardiac damage portends a worse long-term prognosis.

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