Comparison between the SAPIEN S3 and the SAPIEN XT transcatheter heart valves: A single-center experience

To investigate the clinical outcomes of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) with the SAPIEN 3 transcatheter heart valve (S3-THV) vs the SAPIEN XT valve (XT-THV).

We retrospectively analyzed 507 patients that underwent TAVI with the XT-THV and 283 patients that received the S3-THV at our institution between March 2010 and December 2015.

Thirty-day mortality (3.5% vs 8.7%; OR = 0.44, P = 0.21) and 1-year mortality (25.7% vs 20.1%, P = 0.55) were similar in the S3-THV and the XT-THV groups. The rates of both major vascular complication and paravalvular regurgitation (PVR) > 1 were almost 4 times lower in the S3-THV group than the XT-THV group (major vascular complication: 2.8% vs 9.9%, P < 0.0001; PVR > 1: 2.4% vs 9.7%, P < 0.0001). However, the rate of new pacemaker implantation was almost twice as high in the S3-THV group (17.3% vs 9.8%, P = 0.03). In the S3 group, independent predictors of new permanent pacemaker were pre-procedural RBBB (OR = 4.9; P = 0.001), pre-procedural PR duration (OR = 1.14, P = 0.05) and device lack of coaxiality (OR = 1.13; P = 0.05) during deployment.

The S3-THV is associated to lower rates of major vascular complications and PVR but higher rates of new pacemaker compared to the XT-THV. Sub-optimal visualization of the S3-THV in relation to the aortic valvular complex during deployment is a predictor of new permanent pacemaker.