Relation of Clinical Presentation of Aortic Stenosis and Survival Following Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation

Although the natural history of aortic stenosis (AS) depends on the severity of symptoms, the prognostic significance of AS clinical progression in patients who underwent aortic valve replacement is less clear. Here, we studied the correlation between the severity of AS presenting symptoms and survival after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). We evaluated long-term survival of a consecutive cohort of severe AS patients (n = 862, mean Society of Thoracic Surgeons score 4.16 ± 2.9) who underwent transfemoral TAVI from 2009 to 2016. Patients were classified as having severe symptoms (i.e., angina, syncope, or heart failure, n = 424) or mild symptoms (i.e., dizziness, fatigue, effort dyspnea, chest discomfort, n = 438). No differences in device success nor in-hospital complications were found between groups. During a median follow-up of 2.84 (1.9 to 4.5) years, survival at 1, 3, and 5 years in the entire cohort, was 89% ± 1.1%, 75% ± 1.6%, and 59% ± 2.1%, respectively. Severe symptoms were associated with higher mortality (hazard ratio 1.54, 95% confidence intervals 1.230 to 1.939, p <0.001). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival was 94% ± 1.9%, 81% ± 3.3%, and 71% ± 4.3% in patients with angina, 92% ± 3.3%, 75% ± 5.6%, and 56% ± 8.2% in patients with syncope and 77% ± 3%, 54% ± 3.7%, and 41% ± 4.1% in patients with heart failure, respectively, (p <0.001). Heart failure symptoms emerged as independent predictor of mortality (hazard ratio 1.66, 1.28 to 2.17, p <0.001), regardless of left ventricular ejection fraction. The severity of AS symptoms affects survival after TAVI and overt heart failure independently predicts early mortality. Early intervention after diagnosis of severe AS is crucial to reduce the unfavorable effects of clinical progression on survival after TAVI.