Abstract
BACKGROUND: Frailty is a syndrome of impaired physiologic reserve and decreased resistance to stressors and can often be seen in high-risk patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Preoperative frailty status is thought to be related to adverse outcomes after TAVR. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the impact of preoperative frailty status on outcomes among patients after TAVR. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched for relevant studies through January 2018. Fourteen articles (n = 7489) meeting the inclusion criteria were finally included. Possible effects were calculated using meta-analysis. RESULTS: The pooled risk ratios (RRs) of late mortality (>6 months) and acute kidney injury after TAVR in frail group were 2.81 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.90-4.15, P < .001, I = 84%) and 1.41 (95% CI 1.02-1.94, P = .04, I = 24%), respectively. Compared with non-frail group, significantly higher incidence of 30-day mortality (RR 2.03, 95% CI 1.63-2.54, P < .001, I = 0%) and life threatening or major bleeding after TAVR (RR 1.48, 95% CI 1.20-1.82, P < .001, I = 14%) was found in frail group. There was no significant association between frailty and incidence of stroke after TAVR (RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.53-1.63, P = .80, I = 0%). CONCLUSION: Preoperative frailty status is proved to be significantly associated with poor outcomes after TAVR. Our findings may remind doctors in the field of a more comprehensive preoperative evaluation for TAVR candidates. More well-designed and large-sample sized prospective studies are further needed to figure out the best frailty assessment tool for patients undergoing TAVR.