Abstract
AIMS: Pre-existing myocardial fibrosis before aortic valve replacement (AVR) is a major cause of postoperative heart failure (HF). Evaluation of fibrosis by computed tomography extracellular volume (CT-ECV) may allow risk stratification for patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) scheduled for transaortic AVR (TAVR) or surgical AVR (SAVR). We performed a meta-analysis to determine the prognostic value of CT-ECV for the prediction of adverse events in patients with severe AS scheduled for AVR. METHODS AND RESULTS: Electronic database searches of PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection, Cochrane advanced search, and EMBASE were performed. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to examine the association between CT-ECV and prognosis in patients with severe AS who underwent AVR. The diagnostic performance of CT-ECV for predicting composite adverse events (all-cause death and hospitalization for HF) was assessed using a pooled odds ratio (OR). Data from 902 patients with severe AS were extracted from six studies, including 881 TAVR and 21 SAVR cases. The pooled OR of abnormal CT-ECV for predicting adverse events was 4.53 [95% confidence interval (CI): 3.13-6.57 (I (2) = 10%, P for heterogeneity = 0.50)]. We performed an OR meta-analysis on five studies with only TAVR cases (n = 807). The pooled OR of abnormal CT-ECV for predicting adverse events in TAVR patients was 4.85 [95% CI: 3.26-7.21 (I² = 0%, P < 0.001)]. CONCLUSION: Considering the high prognostic ability and versatility of CT-ECV, it may be used to predict postoperative adverse events in patients with severe AS who underwent AVR.