Prognostic impact of coronary lesions and its revascularization in a 5-year follow-up after the TAVI procedure

BACKGROUND

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a common finding in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). However, its prognostic significance and its management remains controversial.

AIMS

This study sought to determine whether the presence of CAD, its complexity, and angiography-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are associated with outcomes after TAVI.

METHODS

All patients undergoing TAVI at a tertiary referral center between 2008 and 2018 were included in a prospective observational study. Baseline SYNTAX (Synergy between PCI with Taxus and Cardiac Surgery) score (SS) and a residual SS after PCI were calculated. The endpoints on the 5 year follow-up were all-cause mortality and a composite of mayor cardiovascular adverse events (MACE).

RESULTS

In 379 patients, the presence of CAD and its complexity were not significantly associated with worse 5-year survival after TAVI, with a mortality for SS0 of 45%; for SS 1-22 of 36.5% (HR 0.77; 95% CI 0.53-1.11, p = 0.15) and for SS > 22 of 42.1% (HR 1.24; 95% CI 0.59-2.63, p = 0.57). Regarding the combined event of MACE, there were also no statistically significant differences between patients with CAD and without CAD (56.8% in patients without CAD and 54.9% in patients with CAD; HR 1.06; 95% CI 0.79-1.43, p = 0.7). Angiography-guided PCI or completeness of revascularization was not associated with different outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

In the present analysis, neither the presence nor the extent of CAD, nor the degree of revascularization, was associated with a prognostic impact in patients undergoing TAVI at 5-year follow-up.

[Long-term results with the off-label use of paclitaxel-eluting stents]

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES

Little information is available about the results obtained with the off-label use of drug-eluting stents. Our aim was to investigate clinical findings on long-term follow-up.

METHODS

The study included 604 consecutive patients who received > or = 1 paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES) at our catherization laboratory between June 2003 and February 2005. Patients were divided into two groups according to whether stent use was on-label or off-label as defined by current practice. The primary study endpoints were the combination of death and non-fatal acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and the combination of death, AMI and target-vessel revascularization (TVR). Secondary endpoints were these events individually and late stent thrombosis (ST).

RESULTS

During the median follow-up period of 34.3 months (interquartile range 8.6 months), PESs had been used off-label in the majority of patients (i.e., 464, 76.8% of the sample) and their use was associated with an increased risk of death or AMI (hazard ratio [HR]=2.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-4) and of death, AMI or TVR (HR=1.8; 95% CI, 1.1-3). There was no significant difference in individual events (i.e., death, AMI or TVR). The group who used stents off-label had poorer clinical characteristics (i.e., older age, and higher likelihoods of previous AMI or previous revascularization and multivessel disease), as well as a higher incidence of ST (5% vs. 0; log-rank test, P=.015).

CONCLUSIONS

The off-label use of PESs was associated with an increased risk of a combined clinical endpoint during long-term follow-up. Further studies are needed to determine the efficacy and safety of these devices in these settings.