Impact of previous cardiac surgery with sternotomy on clinical outcomes and quality of life after transcatheter aortic valve implantation for severe aortic stenosis

Abstract

Background:

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has evolved as an effective treatment in patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis (AS) and increased operative risk. Data on the influence of previous sternotomy on the risk of TAVI are limited.

Aim: We sought to investigate the effect of previous cardiac surgery with sternotomy on clinical outcomes and quality of life (QoL) after TAVI.

Methods: The study included 148 consecutive patients with symptomatic severe AS, who underwent TAVI. Baseline charac-teristics, procedural and long-term clinical outcomes, and QoL assessment with the EQ-5D-3L questionnaire were compared between patients with and without previous sternotomy.

Results: Patients with previous sternotomy (23.0% of the population) were younger and more often male, had higher rate of previous myocardial infarction (MI; 26 [22.8%] vs. 22 [64.7%], p = 0.001), and lower median left ventricular ejection frac-tion (60.0% [50.0–65.0] vs. 50.0% [42.0–60.0], p = 0.004). Periprocedural risk measured with the Logistic Euroscore and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons scale was comparable in both groups. There were no differences in 30-day and 12-month all-cause mortality between the groups with and without sternotomy (10 [8.8%] vs. 2 [5.9%], p = 0.7; odds ratio [OR] adjusted for age/sex/previous MI, 0.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.10–3.29; for 12-month mortality adjusted OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.04–0.99). At the longest available follow-up, mortality was higher in patients without sternotomy (30 [26.3%] vs. 3 [8.8%], p = 0.03; adjusted OR 0.10, 95% CI 0.02–0.42). Similar rates of other complications after TAVI were noted. No differences in the EQ-5D-3L questionnaire at baseline and 12-month follow-up were confirmed.

Conclusions: TAVI seems to be a safe and effective technique for the treatment of severe AS in patients with previous cardiac surgery.