Abstract
Background/Objectives: In the presence of porcelain aorta (PA), transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has become a class I therapeutic indication for the treatment of severe aortic valve stenosis. To date, few studies have analyzed the clinical outcomes of TAVR in PA patients. We aim to analyze the calcification patterns of the thoracic aorta in PA patients and to evaluate their clinical implications for TAVR procedures. Methods: This study included 161 patients who had PA confirmed through pre-operative CT and underwent TAVR between 11/2014 and 12/2022. The primary outcome was to perform a multi-slice CT (MSCT) analysis assessing the calcification in the proximal, middle, and distal thoracic aortic segments. Each segment was divided into quadrants for scoring calcifications on a scale from 1 (<25%) to 4 (>75%). The cohort was categorized into circular or noncircular calcification group. The secondary clinical outcomes were defined according to VARC-3 criteria. Results: The study cohort included 161 patients (median age, 77.2 years; IQR, 70.1-82.6 years). The median EuroSCORE II and STS predicted risk of mortality were 3.10% [1.80-5.58] and 2.70% [1.70-4.30], respectively. In 75% of patients (n = 121/161), TAVR was performed via transfemoral access. Circular calcifications were found in 8.1% of patients, while noncircular calcifications were present in 91.9%. Significant calcifications were primarily in the right quadrant of the proximal segment (33.54%), superior quadrant of the middle segment (39.75%), and left quadrant of the distal segment (73.29%). The 30-day mortality rate was 3.11% and periprocedural ischemic stroke rate 3.38%. Conclusions: Most TAVR patients with PA exhibited noncircular calcification. The most extensive calcifications were primarily in areas relevant to surgical manipulation. Patients with PA displayed low short-term mortality and relatively few stroke events. In view of these findings, TAVR constitutes a valid treatment option for patients with PA and aortic stenosis.