Objective:
Asymmetric septal hypertrophy (ASH) in patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) has been associated with increased perioperative morbidity and mortality in smaller studies with severe aortic stenosis (AS). This association has not been tested in a large, longitudinal study.
Methods:
Clinical, echocardiographic and outcome data from 1730 patients with asymptomatic AS, participated in the Simvastatin Ezetimibe in Aortic Stenosis study (SEAS), a randomized placebo controlled study evaluating the effect of lipid lowering medications on progression of AS, were used. ASH was considered present if interventricular septal/posterior wall thickness ratio exceeded 1.5. The association of ASH with rate of major cardiovascular (CV) events was tested in time-dependent cox-regression analysis.
Results:
During a median of 4.3 years follow-up, ASH developed in 17.0 % of patients, and was associated with higher left ventricular mass (LVM) and body mass index (BMI) compared to non-ASH patients (all p<0.05). In time-varying Cox regression analysis, ASH predicted a 50% greater incidence of ischemic CV events (ICE), a 63% greater incidence in the need for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) at the time of aortic valve replacement, and a 2-fold higher incidence of hospitalization for heart failure due to progression of AS (CHFAS) independent of important confounders (all p<0.05) (Table).
Conclusions:
Development of ASH during progression of AS was a strong predictor of major CV events in patients participating in the SEAS-study.
Table:
Results are presented as Hazard ratio (95% Confidence Interval).
Asymmetric septal hypertrophy in patients with aortic stenosis: An adaptive mechanism or a coexistence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
