The Prognosis of Elderly Patients with Aortic Stenosis after Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Objective Aortic stenosis (AS) is common among elderly patients. Since transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a less invasive procedure than surgical aortic valve replacement for symptomatic severe AS, super-elderly patients have tended to undergo TAVR. We retrospectively investigated the post-TAVR outcome in super-elderly patients with severe AS. Methods This analysis included 433 patients who underwent TAVR in the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics from 2012 to 2017. Post-TAVR mortality, complications in-hospital, rehospitalization, the New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class and echocardiographic parameters were compared between patients <85 years old (n = 290) and ≥85 years old (n = 143). Results The patients ≥85 years old less frequently had a history of coronary artery disease (73.1% vs. 62.2%, p=0.026) and hypertension (87.2% vs. 77.6%, p=0.012) than younger patients. Furthermore, the patients ≥85 years old had moderate-severe mitral regurgitation more frequently (19.3% vs. 28.7%, p=0.037) at baseline than younger patients. There was no significant difference in in-hospital outcomes between the age groups. The 30-day mortality was worse in patients ≥85 years old than in younger ones (0.7% vs. 3.5%, p=0.042). While there was no significant difference in the long-term mortality between the 2 groups, the estimated 1-year mortality from Kaplan-Meier curves were 9.6% in patients <85 years old and 14.9% in patients ≥85 years old. The rate of in-hospital complications, rehospitalization rate, improvement in the NYHA functional class and echocardiographic parameters were comparable between the two groups. Conclusion The outcomes of super-elderly patients after TAVR were acceptable, suggesting that these patients could benefit from TAVR.

Endovascular Therapy for Rheumatic Mitral and Aortic Valve Disease: Review Article.

Rheumatic heart disease remains a major cause of significant mortality and morbidity in the developing world. Rheumatic mitral and aortic stenosis are the two most common valvular sequelae of acute rheumatic fever. Open surgical procedures with either valve replacement or surgical commissurotomy have largely been replaced by percutaneous commissurotomy and balloon valvuloplasty for selected patients since the early 1980s. The purpose of our review is to examine the literature for any recent advancement in procedural techniques of balloon valvuloplasty for selected patients with rheumatic mitral and or aortic stenosis. Our search indicates that, in general, the volume of recent publications on this important topic is rather scanty with no major changes in the fundamentals of procedural techniques and or primary indications for balloon valvuloplasty of a rheumatic valve stenosis. Percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty/commissurotomy remains the main stay of therapy for rheumatic valvular stenosis in selected patients with favorable valve anatomy.

Classification of left ventricular diastolic function using American Society of Echocardiography Guidelines: agreement among echocardiographers.

Guidelines for assessing diastolic function by echocardiography are continually being updated. Our ability to use available guidelines effectively has not been completely investigated. Six trained echocardiographers were asked to interpret 105 echocardiograms using current American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) algorithms for interpretation of diastolic grade and estimation of left atrial (LA) pressure. Diastolic grade was categorized as normal, mild, moderate, or severe dysfunction. The presence or absence of elevated LA pressure was determined using a second ASE algorithm. As a reference comparison for level of agreement, left ventricular ejection fraction was visually determined. By the ASE algorithm, 29 subjects (28%) met all measurement criteria in their assigned grade and 57 subjects (55%) met all or all but one criterion of their assigned grade. Of the 45 subjects (43%) for whom the guidelines disagreed by more than 1 criterion, the readers debated between normal and moderate dysfunction in 22% or mild and moderate diastolic dysfunction in 31%. Percent inter-reader agreement and kappa values were 76% (0.7) for determining diastolic grade, 84% (0.67) for determining elevated LA pressure, and 84% (0.67) for estimation of ejection fraction, the reference standard. For all subjects, if multiple echocardiographic criteria failed to fit into the proposed guidelines, agreement fell to 66% (0.58) for determining diastolic grade and 74% (0.48) for determining LA pressure. There is reasonable agreement estimating diastolic grade and LA pressure using current guidelines. Further refinements in the definition of mild and moderate dysfunction may improve agreement.

The economic burden of complications during percutaneous coronary intervention.

BACKGROUND: Technological advances have enabled percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to be applied with expanding indications. However, escalating costs are of concern. This study assessed the incremental medical costs of major in-hospital procedural complications incurred by patients undergoing PCI. METHODS: We considered all patients undergoing elective, urgent, or emergent PCI at Mayo Clinic Rochester between 3/1/1998-3/31/2003 in analyses. Clinical, angiographic, and outcome data were derived from the Mayo Clinic PCI Registry. In-hospital PCI complications included major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) and bleeding of clinical significance. Administrative data were used to estimate total costs in standardised, year 2004, constant-US dollars. We used generalised linear modeling to estimate costs associated with complications adjusting for baseline and procedural characteristics. RESULTS: 1071 (13.2%) of patients experienced complications during hospitalisation. Patients experiencing complications were older, more likely to present with emergent PCI, recent or prior myocardial infarction, multi-vessel disease, and comorbid conditions than patients who did not experience these events. Unadjusted total costs were, on average, $27,865+/-$39,424 for complicated patient episodes compared to $12,279+/-$6796 for episodes that were complication free (p<0.0001). Adjusted mean costs were $6984 higher for complicated PCIs compared with uncomplicated PCI episodes (95% CI of cost difference: $5801, $8168). Incremental costs associated with isolated bleeding events, MACCE, or for both bleeding and MACCE events were $5883, $5086, and $15,437, respectively (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: This high-volume study highlights the significant economic burden associated with procedural complications. Resources and systems approaches to minimising clinical and economic complications in PCI are warranted.