Pacemaker Status and 5-Year Mortality After TAVI: A Sex-Specific Analysis

Abstract

Background

Sex-specific differences regarding the prognostic impact of permanent pacemaker (PM) implantation after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) remain largely unexplored.

Objectives

To investigate sex-specific associations between pre-existing and new post-procedural PM implantation and short- and long-term mortality after TAVI.

Methods

This post hoc analysis of a prospective registry included consecutive patients who underwent TAVI between 2016 and 2020. Patients were stratified by sex and assigned to three groups: no PM, pre-existing PM (pre-PM) and PM implantation within 30 days of TAVI (post-PM). The primary endpoint was 5-year all-cause mortality; the secondary endpoint was 30-day mortality. Sex-stratified multivariable proportional hazards models and Kaplan–Meier analyses were performed.

Results

Among 1114 patients (81 ± 5 years, 49.8% female), women more frequently had no PM (80.2% vs. 70.8%, p < 0.001) and less often had a pre-existing PM (7.0% vs. 14.5%, p < 0.001). Post-PM rates were similar between sexes (12.8% vs. 14.7%, p = 0.172). Thirty-day survival differed by PM status only in women, with worse outcomes in the post-PM group (log-rank p = 0.033), whereas no difference was observed in men (p = 0.542). Five-year survival did not differ by PM status among women (p = 0.572) but differed significantly among men (p < 0.001), with the lowest survival in men with pre-PM.

Conclusion

Post-procedural PM implantation was associated with higher 30-day mortality in women, whereas pre-existing PM predicted reduced 5-year survival in men, supporting sex-specific risk assessment before and after TAVI.