Abstract
BACKGROUND: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is an effective treatment in patients with "classical" concordant high-gradient aortic stenosis (AS). However, data on outcomes in patients with discordant AS are scarce. Our study aims to investigate the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing TAVR with different types of AS. METHODS: The Cerebrovascular Events in Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation 2 (CENTER2) study is a patient-level database including 25,771 patients who underwent TAVR, of whom 15,233 were included in this analysis. Four AS subgroups were identified, and patients were classified as discordant AS (low-gradient AS with preserved or impaired left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] or discordant high-gradient AS) or concordant high-gradient AS. RESULTS: A total of 15,233 patients underwent TAVR. The mean age was 81.5 ± 6.8 years, 56% were women, and Society of Thoracic Surgeons Predicted Risk of Mortality was 4.8% (interquartile range [IQR] 3.0-8.0%). Of these, 2731 (17.9%) patients had low-gradient AS with preserved or impaired LVEF, 138 (0.9%) discordant high-gradient AS, and 12,364 (81.2%) concordant high-gradient AS. There was no difference in 1-year mortality between discordant AS and concordant high-gradient AS (13.1 vs. 11.9%, adjusted hazard ratio 1.19, p = 0.08). One-year mortality rates was higher in low-gradient AS with impaired LVEF compared to concordant high-gradient AS (15.9 vs. 11.9%, adjusted hazard ratio 1.43, p = 0.01). Patients with concordant high-gradient AS had higher major bleeding rates (6.7%) compared to both low-gradient AS with impaired LVEF (4.0%) and preserved LVEF (5.4%) (p < 0.001 and p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Nearly 20% of patients undergoing TAVR had discordant AS. One-year mortality was higher in low-gradient AS with impaired LVEF, whereas outcomes were similar among low-gradient with preserved LVEF, discordant high-gradient, and concordant high-gradient AS.