Besir Besir, Ramu Shivabalan Kathavarayan, Lomaia Tamari, Ali Majeed-Saidan Maryam Muhammad, Rajendran Judah, Motairek Issam, Harb Serge C, Miyasaka Rhonda, Reed Grant W, Puri Rishi, Yun James J Y, Krishnaswamy Amar, Kapadia Samir R
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Department of Internal Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Struct Heart. 2025 Mar 21;9(8):100456. doi: 10.1016/j.shj.2025.100456. eCollection 2025 Aug.
BACKGROUND: Patients with small annuli are at risk for worse hemodynamic performance after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). It is debatable whether a small annulus confers worse outcomes. This study explored the clinical outcomes following TAVR for patients with small and large annuli across flow-gradient subgroups of aortic stenosis (AS). METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort of patients >18 years who underwent TAVR at Cleveland Clinic between 2016 and 2020. Patients were classified into 2 groups according to annular size: small (area ≤430 mm) and large (area >430 mm). Patients undergoing TAVR with self-expanding valves and those with annular sizing using transesophageal echocardiography were excluded. Each group was subclassified into classical low-flow low-gradient (LFLG) AS, paradoxical LFLG AS, normal-flow low-gradient AS, and high-gradient AS. Clinical outcomes included mortality and heart failure rehospitalization. RESULTS: The study included 1866 patients, of which 709 (38%) had small annuli. There was no difference in heart failure rehospitalization and mortality between the groups in any of the 4 flow-gradient patterns: hazard ratio (HR) = 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.51-1.69) for patients with classical LFLG AS, HR = 0.95, CI (0.62-1.47) for patients with paradoxical LFLG AS, HR = 1.16, CI (0.49-2.74) for patients with normal-flow low-gradient AS, and HR = 0.73, CI (0.50-1.07) for patients with high-gradient AS, using large annulus as a reference. Patients with small annuli had higher mean gradients, lower dimensionless valve index, and a higher incidence of hypoattenuated leaflet thickening and structural valve deterioration post-TAVR. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with small and large annuli have similar intermediate-term clinical outcomes post-TAVR across all flow-gradient patterns treated with balloon-expandable valve.
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