Right ventricular-pulmonary artery uncoupling identifies higher risk of combined pulmonary hypertension in patients undergoing TAVR

Right ventricular-pulmonary artery (RV-PA) uncoupling, expressed as the tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion/systolic pulmonary artery pressure (TAPSE/PAPs) ratio, is a negative prognostic indicator in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) for severe aortic stenosis (AS). This study aims to investigate the association between the echocardiographically measured TAPSE/PAPs ratio and invasively determined pulmonary hypertension (PH) subtypes in this population, with the goal of identifying patients at higher risk.

This study is a retrospective analysis of 667 patients who underwent TAVR for native severe symptomatic AS at our center between January 2015 and December 2022. All patients underwent a comprehensive transthoracic echocardiographic evaluation and right heart catheterization prior to the procedure. PH was classified into: no PH, isolated post-capillary PH (IpcPH), and combined pre- and post-capillary PH (CoPH). Follow-up time was defined as the time from the procedure to the last documented contact with the patient (alive) or to the time of documented death. All-cause mortality at two years was the primary endpoint.

eTAPSE/PAPs showed a moderately positive correlation with pulmonary vascular resistance (Spearman's Rho = 0.52; p = 0.025) and was associated with CoPH (odds ratio 1.29, 95% confidence interval 1.10-1.30). ROC curve analysis showed that eTAPSE/PAPs discriminated presence of CoPH with an AUC of 0.740. The optimal cut-off value was 0.29 mm/mmHg (sensitivity 72%, specificity 60%). During follow-up, 157 deaths were recorded. Kaplan-Meier curves showed a significant difference in overall mortality at 2 years when patients were stratified according to eTPASE/PAPs ratio value of 0.29 (log rank = 4.94, p = 0.026).

The eTAPSE/PAPs ratio identifies patients with symptomatic AS undergoing TAVR with higher risk of CoPH. These patients can benefit from an RHC to refine pre-operative risk assessment.