Left Ventricular Remodeling After Transcatheter Versus Surgical Therapy in Adults With Coarctation of Aorta

The purpose of this retrospective cohort study was to compare remodeling of left ventricular (LV) structure and function after transcatheter stent therapy with remodeling of LV structure and function after surgical therapy for COA.

Transcatheter stent therapy is as effective as surgery in producing acute hemodynamic improvement in patients with coarctation of aorta (COA). However, LV remodeling after transcatheter COA intervention has not been systematically investigated.

LV remodeling was assessed at 1, 3, and 5 years post-intervention by using LV mass index (LVMI), LV end-diastolic dimension, LV ejection fraction, LV global longitudinal strain (LVGLS), LV mitral annular tissue Doppler early velocity (LVe'), and ratio of mitral inflow pulsed wave Doppler early velocity and e' (E/e') ratio.

There were 44 patients in the transcatheter group and 128 patients in the surgical group. Compared to the surgical group, the transcatheter group had less regression of LVMI (-4.6; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -5.5 to -3.7 vs. -7.3; 95% CI: -8.4 to -6.6 g/m²; p < 0.001), less improvement in LVGLS (2.1; 95% CI: 1.8 to 2.4 vs. 2.9; 95% CI: 2.6 to 3.2%; p = 0.024), and in e' (1.0 ; 95% CI: 0.7 to 1.2 vs. 1.5 ; 95% CI: 1.3 to 1.7 cm/s; p = 0.009) at 5 years post-intervention. Exploratory analysis showed a correlation between change in LVMI and LVGLS, and between change in LVMI and mitral annular tissue Doppler early velocity (e'), and this correlations were independent of the type of intervention received.

Transcatheter stent therapy was associated with less remodeling of LV structure and function during mid-term follow-up. As transcatheter stent therapy becomes more widely used in the adult COA population, there is a need for ongoing clinical monitoring to determine if these observed differences in LV remodeling translate to differences in clinical outcomes.