Clinical value of aortic arch morphology in transfemoral TAVR: artificial intelligence evaluation

The impact of aortic arch (AA) morphology on the management of the procedural details and the clinical outcomes of the transfemoral artery (TF)-transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has not been evaluated. The goal of this study was to evaluate the AA morphology of patients who had TF-TAVR using an artificial intelligence algorithm and then to evaluate its predictive value for clinical outcomes.

A total of 1480 consecutive patients undergoing TF-TAVR using a new-generation transcatheter heart valve at 12 institutes were included in this retrospective study. The AA measurements were evaluated by deep learning, and then the approach index (I A ) was determined. The machine learning algorithm was used to construct the predictive model and was validated externally.

The area under the curve of the I A model using random forest and logistic regression was 0.675 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.586-0.764] and 0.757 (95% CI: 0.665-0.849), respectively. The I A model was validated externally, and consistent distinctions were obtained. After we used a generalized propensity score matching method for continuous exposure, the I A was the strongest correlation factor for major procedural events (odds ratio: 3.87; 95% CI: 2.13-7.59, P < 0.001). When leaflet morphology or transcatheter heart valve type was an interactive item with I A , neither of them was statistically significant in terms of clinical outcomes.

I A may be used to identify the impact of AA morphology on procedural and clinical outcomes in patients having TF-TAVR and to help to predict the procedural complications.