Predictive Value of Aortic Valve Calcium Volume Measured by Computed Tomography for Paravalvular Leakage After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation.

Paravalvular leakage (PVL) is a complication of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) for aortic stenosis, leading to an adverse prognosis. We investigated whether aortic valve calcium volume (Ca-Vol) measured by preoperative cardiac computed tomography had a predictive value for PVL after TAVI using a third-generation self-expandable valve.We retrospectively analyzed 59 consecutive patients who underwent TAVI using a third-generation self-expandable valve. We measured Ca-Vol in the aortic valve and each cusp (non-coronary cusp [NCC], right-coronary cusp [RCC], and left-coronary cusp [LCC]). We divided the patients into 2 groups: a PVL group (32.2%) and a non-PVL group (67.8%). Total Ca-Vol was significantly higher in the PVL group than in the non-PVL group (P < 0.001). Ca-Vol in each cusp was also significantly higher in the PVL group ([NCC] P < 0.001, [RCC] P = 0.001, [LCC] P < 0.001). Univariate logistic regression analysis for PVL indicated that the total and per-cusp Ca-Vols were predictors for PVL (total, odds ratio [OR] 4.0, P < 0.001; NCC, OR 12.5, P = 0.002; RCC, OR 16.0, P = 0.008; LCC, OR 44.5, P < 0.001).Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of Ca-Vol for predicting PVL revealed the optimal cut-off values of Ca-Vol were 2.4 cm for the total, 0.74 cm for NCC, 0.73 cm for RCC, and 0.56 cm for LCC (area under the curve, 0.85, 0.79, 0.76, and 0.83, respectively).Preoperative total, NCC, RCC, and LCC calcium volumes were significant predictors for PVL after TAVI using third-generation self-expandable valves.