Myocardial Injury After Balloon Predilatation Versus Direct Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: Insights From the DIRECTAVI Trial

BACKGROUND: Myocardial injury is associated with higher mortality after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and might be increased by prior balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV). We aimed to evaluate the impact of prior BAV versus direct prosthesis implantation on myocardial injury occurring after (TAVR) with balloon‐expandable prostheses. METHODS AND RESULTS: The DIRECTAVI (Direct Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation) trial, an open‐label randomized study, demonstrated noninferiority of TAVR without BAV (direct TAVR group) compared with systematic BAV (BAV group) with the Edwards SAPIEN 3 valve. High‐sensitivity troponin was assessed before and the day after the procedure. Incidence of myocardial injury after the procedure (high‐sensitivity troponin elevation >15× the upper reference limit [14 ng/L]) was the main end point. Impact of myocardial injury on 1‐month adverse events (all‐cause mortality, stroke, major bleeding, major vascular complications, transfusion, acute kidney injury, heart failure, pacemaker implantation, and aortic regurgitation) was evaluated. Preprocedure and postprocedure high‐sensitivity troponin levels were available in 211 patients. The mean age of patients was 83 years (78–87 years), with 129 men (61.1%). Mean postprocedure high‐sensitivity troponin was 124.9±81.4 ng/L in the direct TAVR group versus 170.4±127.7 ng/L in the BAV group (P=0.007). Myocardial injury occurred in 42 patients (19.9%), including 13 patients (12.2%) in the direct TAVR group and 29 (27.9%) in the BAV group (P=0.004). BAV increased by 2.8‐fold (95% CI, 1.4–5.8) myocardial injury probability. Myocardial injury was associated with 1‐month adverse events (P=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: BAV increased the incidence and magnitude of myocardial injury after TAVR with new‐generation balloon‐expandable valves. Myocardial injury was associated with 1‐month adverse events. These results argue in favor of direct SAPIEN 3 valve implantation. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.Clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT02729519.