Prognostic value of myocardial injury following transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

There is a lack of clarity concerning the clinical implications of myocardial injury occurring after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) procedures. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence, degree, and timing of myocardial injury associated with TAVI procedures and to evaluate its 1-year prognostic value. Among 68 consecutive patients (mean age 80.9 ± 6.4 years) treated with TAVI, 3 patients who died within 24 hours, precluding cardiac biomarker measurements, and 3 patients with major procedural complications were excluded. Cardiac troponin I, creatine kinase-MB, and creatinine levels were determined at baseline and 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours after TAVI. All complications were defined according to the Valve Academic Research Consortium. Myocardial injury was observed in all patients (n = 62), as determined by an increase in cardiac troponin I (median peak at 12 hours 3.8 μg/L, interquartile range 1.8 to 25.67), and a higher degree of myocardial injury was observed in patients (n = 9) who developed acute kidney injury (AKI) (p = 0.026). Periprocedural myocardial infarction was not found. At 1-year follow-up, 5 patients had died, and 7 patients had been hospitalized for heart failure. The development of AKI, not the degree of peak cardiac troponin I (p = 0.348), was identified as the only strong independent predictor of 1-year mortality from any cause (including heart failure) after TAVI (hazard ratio 4.74, 95% confidence interval 1.12 to 20.03, p = 0.034). In conclusion, TAVI was systematically associated with myocardial injury, occurring with a higher degree in patients who developed AKI. However, the simultaneous development of AKI occurring after TAVI is the strongest predictor of 1-year mortality.