In‐Hospital Outcomes After Transcatheter Versus Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement in Octogenarians

BACKGROUND: Octogenarians have low physiologic reserve and may benefit more from transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) than surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). METHODS AND RESULTS: This retrospective cohort study based on the National Inpatient Sample included octogenarians who underwent TAVR or SAVR from 2012 to 2015. Crude and standardized‐morbidity‐ratio‐weighted regression models were used to compare in‐hospital outcomes. Among 19 145 TAVR and 9815 SAVR hospitalizations, TAVR patients had higher Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) scores (2.0 versus 0.8, P<0.0001) than SAVR patients. Before weighting, TAVR was associated with significantly shorter length of stay, more home discharges, and lower incidences of acute kidney injury, bleeding, and cardiogenic shock. Associations were consistent across Charlson Comorbidity Index, except for TAVR being associated with greater length of stay reductions among patients with Charlson Comorbidity Index ≥2, compared with Charlson Comorbidity Index <2 (change in estimate −3.56 versus −2.61 days, P=0.004). After weighting, TAVR patients had significantly shorter length of stay (change in estimate −3.29 days, 95% CI −3.82, −2.75) and lower odds of transfer to skilled nursing facility (odds ratio 0.34, 95% CI 0.29, 0.41), acute kidney injury (odds ratio 0.55, 95% CI 0.45, 0.68), bleeding (odds ratio 0.44, 95% CI 0.37, 0.53), and cardiogenic shock (odds ratio 0.55, 95% CI 0.33, 0.92), compared with SAVR patients. Odds of permanent pacemaker implantation, transient ischemic attack/stroke, vascular complications, and in‐hospital mortality were not significantly different. CONCLUSIONS: TAVR may be preferred over SAVR in high‐risk octogenarians because of shorter length of stay, better discharge disposition, and less acute kidney injury, and bleeding. All octogenarians may benefit more from TAVR, irrespective of comorbidity burden, but additional research is needed to confirm our findings.