Renin-Angiotensin System Inhibition and Cardiac Damage in Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

The optimal medical treatment strategy after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has not been established, and might be affected by the extent of extravalvular cardiac damage. We aimed to investigate the prognostic association of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitors in TAVR patients stratified according to the extent of extravalvular cardiac damage.

In a prospective TAVR registry, patients were retrospectively evaluated for baseline cardiac damage and classified into 5 stages of cardiac damage (0-4) according to established criteria. Clinical outcomes at 1 year were compared according to RAS inhibitor prescription at discharge.

Among 2247 eligible patients who underwent TAVR between August 2007 and June 2021, 1634 (72.7%) were prescribed RAS inhibitors at discharge. Eighty-three patients (3.7%) were classified as stage 0, 276 (12.3%) as stage 1, 889 (39.6%) as stage 2, 489 (21.8%) as stage 3, and 510 (22.7%) as stage 4. RAS inhibitor prescription after TAVR was associated with a reduced risk of 1-year mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [HR_adjusted], 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.45-0.77). The protective association was accentuated among patients with cardiac stages 3 and 4 (HR_adjusted, 0.54 [95% CI, 0.32-0.92]; and HR_adjusted, 0.58 [95% CI, 0.36-0.92], respectively), but not statistically significant in for those with stage 2 (HR_adjusted, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.43-1.14).

In patients who underwent TAVR, we found a strong association of RAS inhibitor prescription and improved clinical outcome in the overall population, and there were no signs of heterogeneity across stages of cardiac damage.

NCT01368250.