Aortic Valve Gradient and Clinical Outcome in Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation for Severe Aortic Stenosis.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the relation between the baseline aortic valve gradient (AVG) as a continuous variable and clinical outcomes following transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in general and specifically in patients with high-gradient aortic stenosis (AS). METHODS: We reviewed 317 consecutive patients who underwent TAVI at our institution. We investigated the relation between AVG as a continuous/categorical variable and outcome among all patients and in patients without low-flow low-gradient AS, using the Cox proportional hazard model adjusting for multiple prognostic variables. RESULTS: Patients had a peak AVG of 79.9 ± 22.8 mm Hg (mean 50.5 ±15.7). During a mean follow-up of 2.7 years, AVG was inversely associated with mortality and mortality or cardiac hospitalization. Every 10-mm-Hg increase in peak AVG was associated with 18% reduction in mortality (p = 0.003) and 19% reduction in mortality/cardiac hospitalization (p < 0.001). Every 10-mm-Hg increase in mean AVG was associated with a 24% reduction in both outcomes (p = 0.005 and p < 0.001). Subgroup analysis of patients with left-ventricular ejection fraction >40% or peak AVG >64 mm Hg yielded similar results. CONCLUSIONS: Mean and peak baseline AVGs are directly associated with improved outcomes after TAVI; AVG can be used to select the patients most likely to benefit from TAVI.

Preliminary experience using the transcatheter mitral valve leaflet repair procedure.

BACKGROUND: Mitral regurgitation (MR) causes increased morbidity and mortality in heart failure patients and is often associated with augmented surgical risk. OBJECTIVES: To assess the preliminary results oftranscatheter mitral valve leaflet repair (TMLR) in a single academic center. METHODS: Data were collected prospectively in the cardiology department of Rabin Medical Center in 2012. Ten consecutive patients (age 69.3 +/- 15.9 years, ejection fraction 36.5 +/- 9.4) who were poor surgical candidates with severe functional MR underwent general anesthesia, followed by trans-septal puncture and a TMLR procedure using the MitraClip device. RESULTS: All 10 patients were considered to have severe functional MR prior to TMLR treatment and were all symptomatic; the mean New York Heart Association (NYHA) class was 3.4 +/- 0.5. The MR severity was 4 +/- 0. There were no immediate complications or failures of the procedure. One patient died on day 5 due to massive gastrointestinal bleeding. Immediately following TMLR all 10 patients showed a profound MR reduction to a mean severity grade of 1.6 +/- 0.6. At one month after the procedure, NYHA had decreased to an average of 1.7 +/- 1.0 and was at least grade 2 in all but one patient. After 6 months the MR remained < or = 2 in six of eight patients, with a NYHA average of 1.4 +/- 0.5. CONCLUSIONS: The MitraClip procedure was shown to be relatively safe, providing significant clinical benefit to a relatively sick population with severe MR. It is therefore an important alternative to surgery in these high risk patients.

Increased risk of non-hematological cancer in young patients with aortic stenosis: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: We have previously reported an increased risk for non-hematological malignancies in young patients with moderate or severe aortic stenosis (AS). These findings were the result of a post-hoc analysis from a large echocardiography database and needed verification. Our aim was to determine, using a different study population, whether young patients with AS are at increased risk for cancer. METHODS: A large echocardiographic database was used to identify patients (age ≥ 20 years) with moderate or severe AS (study group) and patients without aortic stenosis (comparative group). The new occurrence of non-hematological malignancies was determined after the index date (first echo with moderate or severe AS or first recorded echo in the control group). RESULTS: The final study group included 7013 patients with AS and 98,884 without AS. During a median follow-up of 6.9 years (3.0-11.1) there were 10,705 new cases of non-hematological cancer. The crude incidence rate of cancer was higher in AS compared to non-AS patients (22.3 vs. 13.7 per 1000 patient-year, crude HR 1.58 (95%CI 1.46-1.71). After adjustment for relevant covariates, there was no difference between groups (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.86-1.01). Only patients in the lowest age quartile (20-49.7 years), had an increased adjusted risk of cancer (HR 1.91, 95%CI 1.08-3.39). The HR for the risk of cancer associated with AS was inversely proportional to age (P < 0.001 for the interaction between AS and age). CONCLUSIONS: Young patients with moderate or severe AS may have an increased risk for cancer. Cancer surveillance should be considered for young patients with AS.