Impact of aortic aneurysms in trans-catheter aortic valve replacement: A single center experience.

Background: Patients who undergo trans-catheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) may have concomitant aortic aneurysms. We sought to clarify the incidence of aortic aneurysms and its impact on clinical outcomes among patients undergoing TAVR.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis who underwent TAVR from January 2012 to June 2016. Multi-detector computer tomography (MDCT) was performed on all patients and images were reviewed to identify thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms (TAA and AAA). The incidence of vascular complications (VARC-2 definition), and in-hospital and 6-month major adverse cardiac events (MACE) defined as a composite of all-cause mortality, cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, and stroke were recorded.

Results: Among 232 patients included in the analysis, 22 patients (9.5%) had aortic aneurysms (11 had AAA, 8 had TAA, and 3 had both). Patients with aortic aneurysms had a higher, albeit statistically insignificant, rate of smoking history (63.6% vs. 42.9%, p = 0.062). Both groups of patient predominantly underwent TAVR via trans-femoral access (72.7% vs. 71.4%, p = 0.90). The incidence of vascular complications was similar between the two groups (9.1% vs. 10.5%, p = 1.0). Patients with aortic aneurysms had a similar in-hospital MACE (4.5% vs. 6.2%, p = 1.0) and 6-month MACE (9.1% vs. 9.0%, p = 1.0) compared to those without aneurysms.

Conclusions: In our patient cohort, 9.5% of patients who underwent TAVR had concomitant aortic aneurysms. Patients with aortic aneurysms had similar incidence of vascular complications as well as in-hospital and 6-month MACE compared to those without.