The following is a summary of “Contemporary Trends, Characteristics, and Outcomes of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation Among Extreme Elderly Patients,” published in the July 2023 issue of Cardiovascular Disease by Abdelmottaleb et al.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has been progressively conducted in the geriatric population with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis. Researcher’s objective was to examine the patterns, features, and results of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) in the geriatric population. The National Readmission Database was concerned for the period from 2016 to 2019 to identify transcatheter aortic valve implantation cases in the aging population. Linear regression analysis was employed to ascertain the temporal trends in outcomes.

A cumulative of 23,507 admissions for transcatheter aortic valve implantation in the geriatric population were analyzed, with 50.3% female and 95.9% having Medicare insurance coverage. The inpatient mortality rate and the rate of readmissions for any cause within 30 days were 2% and 15%, respectively, and have remained consistent throughout the years of analysis (P trend = 0.79 and 0.06, respectively). Complications were assessed, including permanent pacemaker implantation (12%) and stroke (3.2%). The incidence of strokes did not exhibit a decrease, with rates of 3.4% in 2016 and 2.9% in 2019 (P trend = 0.24). 

The average duration of hospitalization demonstrated a significant improvement, decreasing from 5.5 days in 2016 to 4.3 days in 2019 (P trend <0.01). The rates of premature discharge (day ≤3) have shown improvement, increasing from 49% in 2016 to 69% in 2019 (P trend <0.01). This nationwide contemporary observational analysis demonstrated that transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) correlated with minimal complication rates in the geriatric population.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002914923002291