Abstract
Funding Acknowledgements
Type of funding sources: None.
Introduction
Aortic stenosis (AS) is the most prevalent valvular heart disease among the elderly, reaching 8,1% in 85 years-old patients. Symptomatic severe AS entails a high risk of morbidity and mortality without valve replacement, and increasing age is associated with higher surgical risk.
Purpose
To determine the prognostic impact of advanced age in patients with severe AS referred to surgical valve replacement.
Methods
We conducted a retrospective study encompassing patients referred to surgical aortic valve replacement due to severe AS, from January 2016 to December 2018. Clinical characteristics, diagnostic studies and follow-up were analysed. Patients were divided in two groups according to the age: <80 and ≥80 years old. Independent predictors of mortality and/or re-hospitalization were identified through a binary logistic regression analysis, considering p = 0,05.
Results
A total of 222 patients were included, with a 64,4% male predominance and a median age of 75 years old. 27,5% had concomitant surgical coronary artery disease and 87,4% waited in an out-patient setting. Median delay until surgery was 87 days and median follow-up after surgical referral was 517 days. 59 patients (26,8%) had ≥ 80 years old. Male gender (69,6% vs 50,8%; p = 0,01), smoking habits (14,3% vs 1,7%; p = 0,024), higher glomerular filtration rate (75,5 vs 63,2 ml/min; p = 0,001) and lower Euroscore II values (2,89% vs 4,64%; p = 0,003) were more common in younger patients. Global mortality rate (27,1% vs 15,5%; p = 0,05) and the composite of mortality or re-hospitalization (52,5% vs 36,6%; p = 0,034) were more frequent in older patients. Despite re-hospitalizations were also more common (37,3% vs 29,2%), they did not reach statistical significance (p = 0,252). After multivariate analysis, advanced age was not an independent predictor of mortality and/or re-hospitalization. In this population, only the presence of extracardiac arteriopathy (p = 0,007; p = 0,006) and pulmonary hypertension (p = 0,004; p = 0,002) were both independent predictors of mortality and the composite of mortality or re-hospitalization.
Conclusion
Older patients with AS have higher mortality, but advanced age was not an independent predictor of mortality and/or re-hospitalization. The decision to perform aortic valve replacement should be discussed in the Heart Team, considering patient’s comorbidities and performing a comprehensive geriatric evaluation, not just focusing on age itself.
Severe aortic stenosis in octogenarian: is surgical aortic valve replacement a good option?