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Updated: Oct 1, 2025

Technique and Patient Selection Criteria of Right Anterior Mini-Thoracotomy for Minimal Access Aortic Valve Replacement
Published on: March 26, 2018
Trends in Utilization of Aortic Valve Replacement for Severe Aortic Stenosis
Shawn X Li1, Nilay K Patel2, Laura D Flannery2
1Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/ShawnXLiMD.
Background:
Despite the rapid growth of aortic valve replacement (AVR) for aortic stenosis (AS), limited data suggest symptomatic severe AS remains undertreated.
Objectives:
This study sought to investigate temporal trends in AVR utilization among patients with a clinical indication for AVR.
Methods:
Patients with severe AS (aortic valve area <1 cm2) on transthoracic echocardiograms from 2000 to 2017 at 2 large academic medical centers were classified based on clinical guideline indications for AVR and divided into 4 AS subgroups: high gradient with normal left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (HG-NEF), high gradient with low LVEF (HG-LEF), low gradient with normal LVEF (LG-NEF), and low gradient with low LVEF (LG-LEF). Utilization of AVR was examined and predictors identified.
Results:
Of 10,795 patients, 6,150 (57%) had an indication or potential indication for AVR, of whom 2,977 (48%) received AVR. The frequency of AVR varied by AS subtype with LG groups less likely to receive an AVR (HG-NEF: 70%, HG-LEF: 53%, LG-NEF: 32%, LG-LEF: 38%, P < 0.001). AVR volumes grew over the 18-year study period but were paralleled by comparable growth in the number of patients with an indication for AVR. In patients with a Class I indication, younger age, coronary artery disease, smoking history, higher hematocrit, outpatient index transthoracic echocardiogram, and LVEF ≥0.5 were independently associated with an increased likelihood of receiving an AVR. AVR was associated with improved survival in each AS-subgroup.
Conclusions:
Over an 18-year period, the proportion of patients with an indication for AVR who did not receive AVR has remained substantial despite the rapid growth of AVR volumes.
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