Early Recovery of Left Ventricular Systolic Function after Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation.

BACKGROUND: A lot of studies have shown a positive effect of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate the effect of TAVI on left ventricular function and correlate this phenomenon with hypertrophy degree in an early follow-up. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between August 2015 and July 2016, 250 consecutive patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis (AS) underwent TAVI in our institution. Given the aim of this analysis, only patients with an LVEF <50%, no more than moderate mitral valve regurgitation, successful valve implantation, and 1-month follow-up available were included in the study (n = 46). Patients were enrolled in a prospective database, with clinical and echocardiographic evaluations at 1 month after TAVI. RESULTS: All patients had severe symptomatic AS (mean transaortic pressure gradients: 44.1 ± 13.8 mmHg and mean aortic valve area: 0.66 ± 0.19 cm2). Mean baseline LVEF was 39.3 ± 8.8%. Significant hemodynamic improvement was observed after TAVI. Mean transvalvular aortic gradient decreased significantly from 44.1 ± 13.8 mmHg to 8.9 ± 4.2 mmHg (P < 0.005). A statistically significant improvement in LVEF compared to baseline was observed in the 1st month of follow-up (39.3 ± 8.8% vs. 44.1 ± 10.1%, P < 0.019). Overall, 52.2% of patients showed an increase in LVEF, 32.6% had no change, while only 2.2% had a decrease in LVEF. Interestingly, we found a significant reverse correlation between LVEF improvement and ventricular hypertrophy measured as diastolic interventricular septum thickness (Pearson index r = -0.42). Patients showing greater improvement in LVEF were those with less than moderate hypertrophy. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with depressed systolic function show a consistent and early LVEF recovery after TAVI. An impaired LVEF recovery is most likely among patients with more than moderate hypertrophy, probably responsible of left ventricular fibrosis that irremediably compromises systolic function.

Incidence of Long-Term Structural Valve Dysfunction and Bioprosthetic Valve Failure After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Background Long-term data on durability of currently available transcatheter heart valves are sparse. We sought to assess the incidence of long-term (8-year) structural valve dysfunction and bioprosthetic valve failure in a cohort of patients with transcatheter aortic valve replacement ( TAVR ) who reached at least 5-year follow-up. Methods and Results Consecutive patients with at least 5-year follow-up available undergoing TAVR from June 4, 2007 to March 30, 2012 were included. Structural valve dysfunction and bioprosthetic valve failure were defined according to newly standardized European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions/ European Society of Cardiology/European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery criteria and reported as cumulative incidence function to account for the competing risk of death. A total of 288 consecutive patients with a mean age of 80.7±5.3 years and with a mean Society of Thoracic Surgery mortality score of 8.1±5.1% were analyzed. Survival rate at 8 years was 29.8%. Mean pressure gradients decreased from 53.3±15.9 mm Hg (pre- TAVR ) to 10.5±4.5 mm Hg (in-hospital post- TAVR ) ( P<0.001). There was a small, not significant, increase in the transaortic gradient throughout follow-up. Bioprosthetic valve failure was observed in a total of 11 patients (8-year cumulative incidence function: 4.51%; 95% confidence interval , 1.95%-8.76%). Severe and moderate structural valve dysfunctions were reported in 7 patients (8-year cumulative incidence function: 2.39%; 95% confidence interval, 0.77%-5.71%) and 13 patients (8-year cumulative incidence function: 5.87%; 95% confidence interval , 3.06%-9.96%), respectively. Aortic valve reintervention (redo TAVR ) was successfully performed in 2 patients (0.7%) presenting with symptomatic severe restenosis and intraprosthetic regurgitation subsequent to endocarditis. Conclusions In an aged population of patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis treated with first-generation bioprostheses, TAVR was associated with a survival rate of 30% but low rates of bioprosthetic valve failure and structural valve dysfunction at 8 years.

A Membranous Septal Aneurysm Causing Right Ventricular Outflow Tract Obstruction in an Adult.

We describe a case of a 69-year-old female referred for the evaluation of exertional dyspnea, with a small membranous ventricular septal defect (VSD) and right ventricle (RV) outflow tract obstruction. Using transthoracic echo was diagnosed VSD with left to right shunting and transesophageal echo (TEE) was used to a better anatomical characterization. TEE showed a perimembranous subaortic VSD that developed a high-velocity flow in RV. Pulmonary valve appears normal and right ventricular infundibular hypertrophy or double-chambered RV was excluded from the study. Furthermore, TEE showed a malaligned VSD and the presence of perimembranous mobile tissue protruding in RV. We hypothesized that this tissue can be attributed to broken septum aneurysm and protruding during systole, it causes a dynamic RV output tract obstruction.

Optimized Screening of Coronary Artery Disease With Invasive Coronary Angiography and Ad Hoc Percutaneous Coronary Intervention During Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

BACKGROUND: We sought to describe an optimized approach to coronary artery disease (CAD) screening and management in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). METHODS AND RESULTS: When invasive coronary angiography showed CAD, the treatment strategy and completeness of revascularization was determined based on coronary anatomy. TAVR was performed in the same setting if percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was uncomplicated; otherwise TAVR was postponed. A total of 604 patients undergoing CAD screening at the time of TAVR procedure were prospectively included in this study. Severe CAD was found in 136 patients (22.5%). Among patients with severe CAD, 53 patients (8.8%) underwent uncomplicated PCI. After PCI, TAVR was postponed in 2 patients (0.3%). In 83 patients (13.8%), coronary angiography showed severe CAD that was left untreated. After TAVR, all-cause and cardiovascular 30-day mortality rates were 2.4% and 1.4%, respectively. Disabling stroke, myocardial infarction, and life-threatening bleeding occurred in 0.5%, 0.8%, and 4.0% of patients, respectively. Acute kidney injury II or III rate was 3.3%. At 2 years, all-cause mortality rate was 14.1%. Disabling stroke and myocardial infarction occurred in 2.5% and 1.8% of patients, respectively. Patients undergoing TAVR and PCI in the same session had similar rate of the composite of death, disabling stroke, and myocardial infarction when compared with patients without CAD, and patients with severe CAD left untreated (TAVR+PCI: 10.4%; severe CAD left untreated: 15.4%; no-CAD: 14.8%; P=0.765). CONCLUSIONS: In patients undergoing TAVR, screening of CAD with invasive coronary angiography and ad hoc PCI during TAVR is feasible and was not associated with increased periprocedural risks. PCI followed by TAVR in the same session had similar outcomes than TAVR in which PCI was not performed.

Four-year durability of clinical and haemodynamic outcomes of transcatheter aortic valve implantation with the self-expanding CoreValve.

AIMS: Long-term data on the durability of currently available transcatheter heart valves are limited. We sought to assess four-year clinical and echocardiographic outcomes in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) with the CoreValve prosthesis. METHODS AND RESULTS: Between June 2007 and February 2014, 450 consecutive patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis underwent TAVI in our institution. For the purposes of this study, we included only those patients undergoing successful TAVI with the CoreValve prosthesis who had a minimum follow-up of four years (n=125). Survival rates at one, two, three and four years were 83.2, 76.8, 73.6 and 66.3%, respectively. Aortic regurgitation was a common finding after the procedure, especially due to paravalvular regurgitation (PVR), which was observed in the majority of patients (71.5%), mostly mild (52.0%). Progression from mild acute PVR to moderate PVR at four-year follow-up was reported in three patients. No cases of severe PVR were observed. Prosthetic valve failure was reported in four patients (3.2%). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that favourable outcomes after successful TAVI are associated with sustained clinical and functional cardiovascular benefits up to four-year follow-up. Signs of moderate prosthetic valve failure are present only in a small percentage of patients.

Three-dimensional echocardiographic and surgical findings in mitral mechanical valve dysfunction.

Periodic echocardiographic evaluation of valve function is recommended in all patients with prosthetic valves. Usually trans-thoracic echocardiography (TTE) is satisfactory to assess prosthetic function. Nevertheless when the TTE is suboptimal or in case of strong clinical doubt of prosthetic valve dysfunction, trans-esophageal echocardiography (TEE) remains the gold standard of imaging. Recent advancements in echocardiography, with the three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction, provide an incremental diagnostic value as compared to two-dimensional TEE. In addition, 3D-TEE gives unique views that add extra morphological and anatomical information, providing a very accurate presurgical evaluation.