Abstract

BACKGROUND: Transfemoral-transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TF-TAVR) is increasingly used to treat aortic stenosis, but risk of post-procedure stroke is uncertain.OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess stroke risk and its association with quality of life after surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) versus TF-TAVR.METHODS: The authors performed a propensity-matched study of 1,204 pairs of patients with severe aortic stenosis treated with SAVR versus TF-TAVR in the PARTNER (Placement of AoRTic TraNscathetER Valves) trials from April 2007 to October 2014. Outcomes were: 1) 30-day neurological events; 2) time-varying risk of neurological events early (=7days) and late (7days to 48months) post-procedure; and 3) association between stroke and quality of life 1 year post-procedure by the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) overall summary score.RESULTS: Thirty-day stroke (5.1% vs. 3.7%; p=0.09) was similar, but 30-day major stroke (3.9% vs. 2.2%; p=0.018) was lower after TF-TAVR than SAVR. In both groups, risk of stroke peaked in the first post-procedure day, followed by a near-constant low-level risk to 48months. Major stroke was associated with a decline in quality of life at 1 year in both SAVR (KCCQ score median [15th, 85th percentile]: 79 [53, 94] without major stroke vs. 64 [30, 94] with major stroke; p=0.03) and TF-TAVR (78 [49, 96] without major stroke vs. 60 [8, 99] with major stroke; p=0.04).CONCLUSIONS: Despite similar early-peaking (<1 day post-procedure) neurological risk profiles, SAVR is associated with a higher risk of early major stroke than TF-TAVR. Periprocedural strategies are needed to reduce stroke riskafter aortic valve procedures. (Placement of AoRTic TraNscathetER Valve Trial [PARTNER]; NCT00530894).

View details for PubMedID 30442284