Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement for Severe Aortic Valve Stenosis: Do Patients Experience Better Quality of Life Regardless of Gradient?

Background: Aortic valve replacement improves survival for patients with low-gradient aortic valve stenosis, but there is a paucity of data on postoperative quality of life for this population.

Methods: In a single-center retrospective analysis of 304 patients with severe aortic valve stenosis who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement, patients were divided into 4 groups based on mean pressure gradient, left ventricular ejection fraction, and stroke volume index. Using the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire-12, quality of life was assessed immediately before and 1 month after transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

Results: Most patients in the low-flow, low-gradient group were men; this group had higher relative rates of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes than the paradoxical low-flow, low-gradient group; the normal-flow, low-gradient group; and the high-gradient group. All-cause mortality did not differ significantly among the groups at 1 month after surgery, and all groups experienced a significant improvement in quality-of-life scores after surgery. The mean improvement was 27 points in the low-flow, low-gradient group, 25 points in the paradoxical low-flow, low-gradient group, 30 points in the normal-flow, low-gradient group, and 30 points in the high-gradient group (all P < .001).

Conclusion: Quality of life improves significantly across all subgroups of aortic valve stenosis after trans-catheter aortic valve replacement, regardless of flow characteristics or aortic valve gradients.