RESUMO
BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) is common in patients with aortic valve stenosis undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implanta tion (TAVI). We compared clinical outcomes between TAVI patients with baseline AF versus TAVI patients without AF. METHODS The CENTER study is an international collaboration including 12,381 patients treated with transfemoral TAVI. This pooled analysis consists of patient level data from 10 different studies. End points were stroke and mortality rates at 30 days and 1 year after TAVI as defined by the Valve Academic Research Consortium. RESULTS Of the 12,381 patients, 58% were female, the mean age was 81.5 7.0 years, and the median logistic EuroSCORE was 14.4% (9.0%- 23.0%). A total of 3,354 patients (27%) had known baseline AF. In patients with AF, there was a trend toward higher in-hospital mor tality (5.3% vs 3.5%; relative risk [RR]: 1.18; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.99-1.41; P » 0.06). Moreover, 30-day mortality (7.1% vs 5.3%; RR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.16-1.59; P < 0.001) as well as 1-year mortality (20.8% vs 15.3%; RR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.23-1.52; P < 0.001) was higher in AF patients. In contrast, stroke rates were comparable in patients with versus without AF during hospital admission (2.2% vs 2.0%, P » 0.60), at 30 days (2.9% vs 2.4%, P » 0.18), and 1 year after TAVI (5.3% vs 5.1%, P » 0.75). Also, 30-day rates of myocardial infarction (0.8% vs 1.0%, P » 0.38) and major bleeding (7.6% vs 7.3%, P » 0.53) were similar between both patient groups. However, permanent pace makers were more frequently implanted in AF patients (14.8% vs 13.4%; RR: 1.11; 95% CI: 1.00-1.23; P » 0.05). CONCLUSION In this global study of >12,000 patients undergoing transfemoral TAVI, AF was associated with higher 30-day and 1-year mortality. Moreover, patients with AF more frequently required a permanent pacemaker. Although AF is a common condition in pa tients undergoing TAVI, it is undoubtedly not a benign arrhythmia. Therefore, our results underscore the evident need for further research in treatment options for patients with AF undergoing TAVI.