Impact of gender on outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve implantation

The influence of gender on clinical outcomes following transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) was considerably discrepant in previous studies. We aimed to investigate the impact of gender in our registry.

The study is a retrospective observational analysis of a prospectively designed cohort (546 consecutive patients treated at the University Hospital Zurich who were enrolled in Swiss TAVI Cohort from May 2008 to April 2014). The Study took place in University Heart Centre at University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland.

Both genders were equally represented with 51.5 % (n = 281) of the populations being females, who were significantly older and had a more pronounced history of hypertension (P < 0.001). Males on the other hand showed a higher incidence of diabetes (P = 0.004), coronary artery disease (P < 0.001), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (P < 0.001) and renal failure requiring renal replacement therapy (P = 0.018). Patients were followed up for a median of 391 days with a 100% complete follow-up at one year. The primary outcome (all-cause mortality) occurred in 6.8% (n = 37) and 15% (n = 82) of patients at 30 days and one year, respectively. The 30-day all-cause mortality outcome did not significantly differ between females (7.5%) and males (6.0%) (P = 0.619), but one year all-cause mortality occurred significantly more in males than in females (18.7% vs. 11.7%, P < 0.037).

After TAVI implantation for severe aortic stenosis, males have a less favorable long-term (one year) mortality outcome than females.