Does TAVI improve outcomes compared to medical treatment in high-risk patients with low-flow, low-gradient aortic stenosis?
Despite higher early mortality risks, TAVI provides functional and quality of life benefits for long-term survivors with high-risk low-flow, low-gradient aortic stenosis, offering an alternative to medical treatment.
In high-risk patients with LG-AS, TAVI is associated with a significantly higher mortality at 30 days and at 1 year. However, long-term survivors benefit from TAVI with functional improvement and a significantly increased quality of life. Therefore, in view of the poor prognosis with medical treatment, TAVI should be considered an option in high-risk patients with LG-AS.
Lauten et al. (Tue,) studied this question.