Abstract
Background: Chronic liver disease increases cardiac surgical risk, with 30-day mortality ranging from 9% to 52% in patients with Child-Pugh class A and C, respectively. Data comparing the outcomes of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in patients with liver disease are limited. Methods: We searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Google Scholar for relevant studies and assessed risk of bias using the Risk of Bias in Non-Randomized Studies - of Interventions (ROBINS-I) Cochrane Collaboration tool. Results: Five observational studies with 359 TAVR and 1,872 SAVR patients were included in the analysis. Overall, patients undergoing TAVR had a statistically insignificant lower rate of in-hospital mortality (7.2% vs 18.1%; odds ratio [OR] 0.67; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.25, 1.82; I(2)=61%) than patients receiving SAVR. In propensity score-matched cohorts, patients undergoing TAVR had lower rates of in-hospital mortality (7.3% vs 13.2%; OR 0.51; 95% CI 0.27, 0.98; I(2)=13%), blood transfusion (27.4% vs 51.1%; OR 0.36; 95% CI 0.21, 0.60; I(2)=31%), and hospital length of stay (10.9 vs 15.7 days; mean difference -6.32; 95% CI -10.28, -2.36; I(2)=83%) than patients having SAVR. No significant differences between the 2 interventions were detected in the proportion of patients discharged home (65.3% vs 53.9%; OR 1.3; 95% CI 0.56, 3.05; I(2)=67%), acute kidney injury (10.4% vs 17.1%; OR 0.55; 95% CI 0.29, 1.07; I(2)= 0%), or mean cost of hospitalization ($250,386 vs $257,464; standardized mean difference -0.07; 95% CI -0.29, 0.14; I(2)=0%). Conclusion: In patients with chronic liver disease, TAVR may be associated with lower rates of in-hospital mortality, blood transfusion, and hospital length of stay compared with SAVR.