BACKGROUND: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an established management strategy for severe aortic valve stenosis. Percutaneous axillary approach for TAVI holds the promise of improving safety without jeopardizing effectiveness in comparison to surgical access. We aimed at appraising the comparative effectiveness of percutaneous vs. surgical axillary approaches for TAVI.METHODS: We performed an international retrospective observational study using de-identified details on baseline, procedural, and 1-month follow-up features. Valve Academic Research Consortium (VARC)-3 criteria were applied throughout. Outcomes of interest were clinical events up to 1 month of follow-up, compared with unadjusted and propensity score-adjusted analyses.RESULTS: A total of 432 patients were included, 189 (43.8%) receiving surgical access, and 243 (56.2%) undergoing percutaneous access. Primary hemostasis failure was more common in the percutaneous group (13.2% vs. 4.2%, P<0.001), leading to more common use of covered stent implantation (13.2% vs. 3.7%, P<0.001). Irrespectively, percutaneous access was associated with shorter hospital stay (-2.6 days [95% confidence interval: -5.0; -0.1], P=0.038), a lower risk of major adverse events (a composite of death, myocardial infarction, stroke, type 3 bleeding, and major access-site related complication; odds ratio=0.44 [0.21; 0.95], P=0.036), major access-site non-vascular complications (odds ratio=0.21 [0.06; 0.77], P=0.018), and brachial plexus impairment (odds ratio=0.16 [0.03; 0.76], P=0.021), and shorter hospital stay (-2.6 days [-5.0; -0.1], P=0.038).CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous axillary access provides similar or better results than surgical access in patients undergoing TAVI with absolute or relative contraindications to femoral access.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence and prognostic impact of paravalvular regurgitation (PVR) on the outcome after transcatheter (TAVR) and surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) for aortic stenosis.The nationwide FinnValve registry included data on 6463 consecutive patients who underwent TAVR (n = 2130) or SAVR (n = 4333) with a bioprosthesis for the treatment of aortic stenosis during 2008-2017. The impact of PVR at discharge after TAVR and SAVR on 4-year mortality was herein investigated.The rate of mild PVR was 21.7% after TAVR and 5.2% after SAVR. The rate of moderate-to-severe PVR was 3.7% after TAVR and 0.7% after SAVR. After TAVR, 4-year survival was 69.0% in patients with none-to-trace PVR, 54.2% with mild PVR [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.64, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.35-1.99] and 48.9% with moderate-to-severe PVR (adjusted HR 1.61, 95% CI 1.10-2.35). Freedom from PVR-related reinterventions was 100% for none-to-mild PVR and 95.2% for moderate-to-severe PVR. After SAVR, mild PVR (4-year survival 78.9%; adjusted HR 1.29, 95% CI 0.93-1.78) and moderate-to-severe PVR (4-year survival 67.8%; adjusted HR 1.36, 95% CI 0.72-2.58) were associated with worse 4-year survival compared to none-to-trace PVR (4-year survival 83.7%), but the difference did not reach statistical significance in multivariable analysis. Freedom from PVR-related reinterventions was 99.5% for none-to-trace PVR patients, 97.9% for mild PVR patients and 77.0% for moderate-to-severe PVR patients.This multicentre study showed that both mild and moderate-to-severe PVR were independent predictors of worse survival after TAVR. Mild and moderate-to-severe PVR are not frequent after SAVR, but tend to decrease survival also in these patients.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03385915.
Although the rate of coronary artery disease mortality has decreased over the last decades, it is still the leading cause of death in Finland. Coronary artery disease appears in women with a delay of ten years as compared with men. For women, diabetes and smoking increase the risk of developing the disease more than for men. Women's coronary arteries are smaller in size, which previously impaired the results of invasive treatment. Treatment outcome with current techniques is equal independently of gender. In spite of this, women in an acute attack of coronary artery disease are less frequently directed to coronary angiography.
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has become the first choice to treat older patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis (AS). This study aimed to compare TAVI with surgery in low-risk patients ≤75 years of age, including both tricuspid and bicuspid AS.
Objective --To evaluate how new treatment guidelines of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) without ST elevation have been implemented into clinical practice in Finland. Design --A prospective survey on 501 consecutive patients (mean age 68 [range 27-96] years) admitted to nine hospitals in Finland with suspected ACS without persistent ST elevation between January and March 2001. Results --The rate of death was 4.2% in hospital and 9.8% at 6 months. Six-month composite incidence of death, new myocardial infarction, refractory angina or readmission for unstable angina was 25.4%. The majority of patients had beta-blocker and aspirin both in hospital and at 6 months. Low molecular weight heparin was used in 76% of patients. Statins were used in 52% of patients in hospital and in 64% at 6 months. Glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa receptor antagonists were used in 18% of all patients. The overall rate of coronary angiography was 40% in hospital and 54% at 6 months, but there was large interhospital variation. Overall, only 45% of very high-risk patients underwent angiography during initial hospitalization. Very high-risk patients had longer waiting times for angiography than low-risk patients (5.8 vs 4.5 days, p r < r 0.05). Conclusion --Traditional medication with aspirin and beta-blocker is widely used in ACS, whereas statins, GPIIb/IIIa receptor antagonists and invasive therapy are underused. Well-known risk factors were poor predictors of receiving in-hospital angiography. Implementation of new ESC guidelines into clinical practice needs further education and more resources.
Abstract Background Patients with severe aortic stenosis and left ventricular systolic dysfunction have a poor prognosis, and this may result in inferior survival also after aortic valve replacement. The outcomes of transcatheter and surgical aortic valve replacement were investigated in this comparative analysis. Methods The retrospective nationwide FinnValve registry included data on patients who underwent transcatheter or surgical aortic valve replacement with a bioprosthesis for severe aortic stenosis. Propensity score matching was performed to adjust the outcomes for baseline covariates of patients with reduced (≤ 50%) left ventricular ejection fraction. Results Within the unselected, consecutive 6463 patients included in the registry, the prevalence of reduced ejection fraction was 20.8% (876 patients) in the surgical cohort and 27.7% (452 patients) in the transcatheter cohort. Reduced left ventricular ejection fraction was associated with decreased survival (adjusted hazards ratio 1.215, 95%CI 1.067–1.385) after a mean follow-up of 3.6 years. Among 255 propensity score matched pairs, 30-day mortality was 3.1% after transcatheter and 7.8% after surgical intervention ( p = 0.038). One-year and 4-year survival were 87.5% and 65.9% after transcatheter intervention and 83.9% and 69.6% after surgical intervention (restricted mean survival time ratio, 1.002, 95%CI 0.929–1.080, p = 0.964), respectively. Conclusions Reduced left ventricular ejection fraction was associated with increased morbidity and mortality after surgical and transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Thirty-day mortality was higher after surgery, but intermediate-term survival was comparable to transcatheter intervention. Trial registration The FinnValve registry ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03385915.
Abstract Aims The 2019 report from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Atlas provides a contemporary analysis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) statistics across 56 member countries, with particular emphasis on international inequalities in disease burden and healthcare delivery together with estimates of progress towards meeting 2025 World Health Organization (WHO) non-communicable disease targets. Methods and results In this report, contemporary CVD statistics are presented for member countries of the ESC. The statistics are drawn from the ESC Atlas which is a repository of CVD data from a variety of sources including the WHO, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and the World Bank. The Atlas also includes novel ESC sponsored data on human and capital infrastructure and cardiovascular healthcare delivery obtained by annual survey of the national societies of ESC member countries. Across ESC member countries, the prevalence of obesity (body mass index ≥30 kg/m2) and diabetes has increased two- to three-fold during the last 30 years making the WHO 2025 target to halt rises in these risk factors unlikely to be achieved. More encouraging have been variable declines in hypertension, smoking, and alcohol consumption but on current trends only the reduction in smoking from 28% to 21% during the last 20 years appears sufficient for the WHO target to be achieved. The median age-standardized prevalence of major risk factors was higher in middle-income compared with high-income ESC member countries for hypertension {23.8% [interquartile range (IQR) 22.5–23.1%] vs. 15.7% (IQR 14.5–21.1%)}, diabetes [7.7% (IQR 7.1–10.1%) vs. 5.6% (IQR 4.8–7.0%)], and among males smoking [43.8% (IQR 37.4–48.0%) vs. 26.0% (IQR 20.9–31.7%)] although among females smoking was less common in middle-income countries [8.7% (IQR 3.0–10.8) vs. 16.7% (IQR 13.9–19.7%)]. There were associated inequalities in disease burden with disability-adjusted life years per 100 000 people due to CVD over three times as high in middle-income [7160 (IQR 5655–8115)] compared with high-income [2235 (IQR 1896–3602)] countries. Cardiovascular disease mortality was also higher in middle-income countries where it accounted for a greater proportion of potential years of life lost compared with high-income countries in both females (43% vs. 28%) and males (39% vs. 28%). Despite the inequalities in disease burden across ESC member countries, survey data from the National Cardiac Societies of the ESC showed that middle-income member countries remain severely under-resourced compared with high-income countries in terms of cardiological person-power and technological infrastructure. Under-resourcing in middle-income countries is associated with a severe procedural deficit compared with high-income countries in terms of coronary intervention, device implantation and cardiac surgical procedures. Conclusion A seemingly inexorable rise in the prevalence of obesity and diabetes currently provides the greatest challenge to achieving further reductions in CVD burden across ESC member countries. Additional challenges are provided by inequalities in disease burden that now require intensification of policy initiatives in order to reduce population risk and prioritize cardiovascular healthcare delivery, particularly in the middle-income countries of the ESC where need is greatest.
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