Early reduction of left atrial function predicts adverse clinical outcomes in patients with severe aortic stenosis undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement

AIMS: To investigate the changes in left atrial strain (LAS) after correction of severe aortic stenosis (AS) with transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and assess its prognostic impact. METHODS AND RESULTS: One hundred consecutive patients with severe symptomatic AS who underwent TAVR at the Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro underwent echocardiographic examination including assessment of LAS before and after TAVR. Independent investigators collected outcome data and information. The primary study outcome was the difference in ΔLAS (postTAVR–preTAVR) between patients those met the main clinical endpoint (a composite of cardiovascular mortality and heart failure hospitalisation) and those not meeting the endpoint. During a median follow-up of 31 months, 35 patients (35%) met the combined clinical endpoint. The difference between LAS post-TAVR and LAS pre-TAVR (ΔLAS) was significantly larger in patients who met the combined endpoint (HR=0.76 (0.67–0.86); p<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis including ΔLAS, EuroSCORE II and left ventricular ejection fraction showed that ΔLAS (HR=0.80, p<0.001) was the only independent predictor of the combined clinical endpoint. Finally, a Kaplan-Maier analysis showed that patients with a ΔLAS above its median value had a significantly better event-free survival compared with those below the median (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A lower reduction in ΔLAS after TAVR was an independent predictor of the primary composite outcome of cardiovascular death and hospitalisation for heart failure.