Long-term survival for patients with metabolic syndrome after bioprosthetic or mechanical valve replacement

Metabolic diseases are thought to negatively impact the long-term survival of cardiac patients and have been shown to be associated with reduced durability of bioprosthetic heart valves. The purpose of this study is to determine whether long-term survival of post-valve replacement patients is affected by the presence of metabolic disease, and whether choice of tissue versus mechanical prosthesis impacts survival.

A retrospective review was conducted of all isolated valve replacements performed between 2002 and 2011 from the STS adult cardiac database of Emory Healthcare Hospitals. A total of 1,222 cases were reviewed, of which 909 patients had AVR (661 tissue, 248 mechanical), and 313 MVR (190 tissue, 123 mechanical). Cardiometabolic syndrome (CMS), in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) definition, was present in 242 of 1,222 (19.8%) cases in entire cohort, 203 of 909 (22.3%) in AVR, and 39 of 313 (12.5%) in MVR. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was used to calculate long-term survival after adjusting for propensity score (PS), Society of Thoracic Surgeons Predicted Risk of Mortality (STS PROM), and direct covariates for valve and implant type and stratifying by CMS.

In PS adjusted AVR, patients with CMS risk factors had worse survival compared to metabolic risk-free patients (AHR = 3.47), as was the case for MVR (AHR = 4.06). Tissue MVR patients with CMS had higher hazard of death compared to patients with no diabetes and no metabolic risk factors after adjusting for PROM (AHR = 3.33) and direct covariates (AHR = 3.91).

Metabolic diseases negatively impact long-term survival of aortic and mitral valve replacement (MVR) patients. Tissue prostheses are associated with worse long-term survival following MVR.