Impact of stroke volume assessment by three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography on the classification of low-gradient aortic stenosis.

Background: Accurate assessment of flow status is crucial in low-gradient aortic stenosis (AS). However, the clinical implication of three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3DTEE) on flow status evaluation remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the assessment of flow status using 3D TEE in low-gradient AS patients.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients diagnosed with low-gradient AS and preserved ejection fraction at our institution between 2019 and 2022. Patients were categorized into low-flow/low-gradient (LF-LG) AS or normal-flow/low-gradient (NF-LG) AS based on two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography (2DTTE). We compared the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) geometry between the two groups and reclassified them using stroke volume index (SVi) obtained by 3DTEE.

Results: Among 173 patients (105 with LF-LG AS and 68 with NF-LG AS), 54 propensity-matched pairs of patients were analyzed. 3DTEE-derived ellipticity index of LVOT was significantly higher in LF-LG AS patients compared to NF-LG AS patients (p = 0.012). We assessed the discordance in flow status classification between SVi_2DTTE and SVi_3DTEE in both groups using a cutoff value of 35 ml/m². The LF-LG AS group exhibited a significantly higher discordance rate compared to the NF-LG AS group, with rates of 50% and 2%, respectively. The optimal cutoff values of SVi_3DTEE for identifying low flow status, based on 2DTTE-derived cutoff values, were determined to be 43 ml/m².

Conclusions: LVOT ellipticity in low-gradient AS patients varies depending on flow status, and this difference contributes to discrepancies between SVi_3DTEE and SVi_2DTTE, particularly in LF-LG AS patients. Utilizing SVi_3DTEE is valuable for accurately assessing flow status.