A Computed Tomography Protocol to Evaluate Coronary Artery Disease Before Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) computed tomographic angiography (CTA) images can be used to evaluate coronary artery disease (CAD).

We conducted a prospective cohort study of consecutive TAVR patients from November 2019 to February 2021 to evaluate TAVR CTA assessment of CAD on the rate of pre-TAVR invasive angiography. Patients had CTA first or invasive angiography first at the discretion of their treating physicians. TAVR CTA scans were categorised as normal/mild CAD, single-vessel disease, high risk (multivessel or left main disease), or nondiagnostic in patients without previous coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and as low risk or high risk in patients with previous CABG. Invasive angiography was recommended before TAVR for high-risk or nondiagnostic CTA findings.

TAVR was performed on 354 patients; CTA first was performed in 273 and invasive angiography first in 81. Among 231 patients without previous CABG who had CTA first, 22.1% (51/231) had pre-TAVR invasive angiography and 1.3% (3/231) had pre-TAVR revascularisation. Normal/mild CAD or single-vessel disease was found on CTA in 174 patients, of whom 0.5% (1/174) had high-risk disease on invasive angiography. Among 42 patients with previous CABG who had CTA first, 14.3% (6/42) had pre-TAVR invasive angiography and 2.4% (1/42) had pre-TAVR revascularisation.

TAVR CTA CAD evaluation can avoid pre-TAVR invasive angiography in more than 70% of patients while rarely missing high risk findings. A CTA-first strategy to assess CAD should be considered, especially among patients where conservative management of CAD is preferred.