Abstract 17027: Racial Disparities in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Access: Geographic Analysis Suggesting Disparate Access to Care

Background: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has ample randomized trial evidence that it can reduce mortality and cost for patients with aortic stenosis. Yet racial disparities in procedure access are poorly understood. Methods: This case-control prospectively enrolled TAVR subjects at a single high-volume quaternary academic medical center in Houston, Texas, USA, from 11/8/11-3/28/18. Neural network machine learning-supported binomial probability testing was conducted comparing the Houston population versus the center’s TAVR rates by race, with mortality and cost extrapolations. The IOM definition of health inequities was applied using the rank and replace method for counterfactual comparison (matching subjects by insurance and Society of Thoracic Surgery [STS] risk score for TAVR eligibility). Results: Compared to the Houston population, TAVR subjects (N=1641) were significantly more likely to be Caucasians (51.93% vs 77.26%), and less likely to be African Americans (14.80% vs 6.02%), Hispanics (23.63% vs 15.02%), or other races (9.50% vs 1.70%), all p<0.001. Among TAVR subjects with private insurance, the large majority were Caucasian (832, 85.60%), with the minority being African American (34, 3.50%), Hispanic (96, 9.88%), and other (10, 37.04%) (private insurance by Caucasian versus non-Caucasian, p<0.001). Based on TAVR mortality and cost savings in the PARNTER trial, access disparities for racial minorities over 5 years may result in 858 excess deaths, $130,000 per patient excess costs, and $111.5 million excess costs per the overall sample of eligible presenting Houston subjects. The predicted versus actual racial distribution of TAVR for each minority group matched to Caucasians by insurance and STS score was significantly greater than the actual (each group comparison to Caucasians, p<0.001). Conclusion: Multi-year data from our high-volume center suggest Houston racial minorities are less likely to undergo TAVR, potentially translating into a growing number of preventable excess early deaths and costs as disease incidence increases. Additional studies are underway to determine and reduce the degree of preventable race-related disparities independent of known access predictors.