Prognostic Value of Right Ventricular Dysfunction on Clinical Outcomes After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

Abstract

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to investigate the association between right ventricular dysfunction (RVD) and cardiovascular death after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). BackgroundThere is conflicting evidence on the effect of RVD on clinical outcomes after TAVR. MethodsA total of 1,116 TAVR patients (age 82 ± 6 years; 51% female) who were consecutively enrolled into a prospective registry underwent detailed pre-operative assessment of right ventricular (RV) function and were dichotomized into 2 groups for the purposes of the present retrospective analysis. RVD was assessed using fractional area change (<35%), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (<1.7 cm), and systolic movement of the RV lateral wall by tissue Doppler imaging (<9.5 cm/s). RVD was found in 325 (29.1%) patients. The primary outcome was cardiovascular death at 1 year. ResultsAfter adjustment for comorbidities, patients with RVD had a higher risk of cardiovascular death at 1 year compared with patients with normal RV function (20.1% vs. 7.1%; adjusted hazard ratio [HRadj]: 2.94; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.02 to 4.27; p < 0.001). The difference emerged within the first 30 days after TAVR (9.0% vs. 2.2%; HRadj: 4.62; 95% CI: 2.51 to 8.50; p < 0.001). Normalization of RV function after TAVR was found in 57.4% of patients with RVD at baseline. There was a gradient of increasing risk of cardiovascular death among patients with normal RV function, RVD recovery (HRadj: 2.16; 95% CI: 1.16 to 4.02), new RVD (HRadj: 3.93; 95% CI: 2.09 to 7.39), and maintained RVD (HRadj: 8.74; 95% CI: 5.33 to 14.3), respectively. ConclusionsRVD at baseline was associated with a more than 2-fold increased risk of cardiovascular death at 1 year after TAVR, with a gradient of risk according to RVD recovery. (Swiss TAVI Registry; NCT01368250)