Temporary Trends in Fever following Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation

Fever following transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a common phenomenon, attributed mostly to inflammatory response which may impact outcome. Systemic inflammatory response may be triggered by multiple factors, most associated with the TAVI procedure itself. However, there are no data regarding the incidence of fever following TAVI in contemporary era with newer generation devices. Our primary objective was to measure temporal trends in fever incidence and features following TAVI.

We analyzed a retrospective cohort of 802 consecutive patients who underwent TAVI at our institution between November 2008 and February 2018. We identified and characterized all patients who developed fever (>38.0°C from any cause) within the first 72 h following the procedure and analyzed incidence and characteristics stratified into 3 time frames: 2008-2014, 2014-2016, and 2016-2018.

Following TAVI, 190 (23.7%) patients developed fever (mean age 82.3 ± 5.2 years, 64.2% female). An infectious etiology was evident in only 32.1% of cases. The frequency decreased gradually and significantly across timeframes (32.8, 23.6, and 14.5%, respectively, p < 0.001). In a multivariate regression analysis, 1st generation CoreValve (HR 1.91; CI 95% 1.2-3.04, p = 0.006) was found to be associated with higher incidence of fever in addition to female gender, vascular complications, transfemoral access, and reduced GFR.

Fever incidence post TAVI decreased significantly throughout the last decade. The higher rate of fever in the early years of TAVI was likely associated with first-generation devices, vascular complications, and reduced GFR.