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. 2022 Sep;17(5):382-391.
doi: 10.1177/15569845221123259. Epub 2022 Oct 11.

Midterm Durability and Structural Valve Degeneration of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in a Federal Facility

Rachel Yang  1 , Aaron F Grober  2 , Ramon Riojas  1 , Vimala Ponna  1 , Kendrick A Shunk  2 , Jeffrey M Zimmet  2 , Joshua Gustafson  1   3 , Liang Ge  1 , Elaine E Tseng  1
Affiliations

Midterm Durability and Structural Valve Degeneration of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in a Federal Facility

Rachel Yang et al. Innovations (Phila). 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), previously reserved for patients of intermediate to prohibitive surgical risk, has now been expanded to patients of any surgical risk with severe aortic stenosis. Bioprostheses are prone to structural valve degeneration (SVD), a progressive and multifactorial process that limits valve durability. As the population undergoing TAVR shifts toward a lower-risk and younger profile, long-term durability is a crucial determinant for patient outcomes. Our objective was to determine the incidence and risk factors of SVD at midterm follow-up in a veteran TAVR population.

Methods: Patients undergoing TAVR at our federal facility were retrospectively evaluated for SVD and other endpoints with standardized consensus criteria. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis was performed to evaluate risk factors for mortality and SVD.

Results: From 2013 to 2020, 344 patients (median age, 78 years) underwent TAVR. Survival from all-cause mortality was 91.3% at 1 year, 75.1% at 3 years, and 61.7% at 5 years. Cumulative freedom from SVD was 98.2% at 1 year, 96.5% at 3 years, and 93.7% at 5 years. All 13 patients with SVD met hemodynamic criteria, and 1 required intervention. Median time to hemodynamic SVD was 1.04 years. Independent risk factors for SVD included age (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.92, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.86 to 0.99) and valve size (HR = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.89).

Conclusions: SVD was evident at a low but detectable rate at 5-year follow-up. Further understanding of TAVR biomechanics as well as continued longer-term follow-up will be essential for informing patient-specific risk of SVD.

Keywords: midterm durability; structural valve degeneration; transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Dr. Tseng and Dr. Ge disclose they are founders of ReValve Med, Inc.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Survival from all-cause mortality was 91.3% (95% CI: 88.7% to 94.5%) at 1 year, 75.1% (95% CI: 69.8% to 80.3%) at 3 years, and 61.7% (95% CI: 54.5% to 68.9%) at 5 years. CI, confidence interval.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Cumulative freedom from SVD was 98.2% (95% CI: 96.8% to 99.6%) at 1 year, 96.5% (95% CI: 94.2% to 98.7%) at 3 years, and 93.7% (95% CI: 89.0% to 98.3%) at 5 years. CI, confidence interval; SVD, structural valve degeneration.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Median and interquartile range of the mean aortic valve gradient of patients with structural valve degeneration (n = 13) compared with patients without structural valve degeneration (n = 331) over time. Echocardiographic data were censored for patients who received treatment or intervention.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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