Interaction Between Frailty and Access Site in Older Adults Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

OBJECTIVES: The authors sought to determine whether frail older adults undergoing nonfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures had a higher risk of 30-day and 12-month mortality. BACKGROUND: Frailty can help predict outcomes and guide therapy in older adults being considered for TAVR. Nonfemoral TAVR procedures are more invasive and impart a greater risk of adverse events, which may be less well tolerated in frail patients, compared with transfemoral TAVR procedures. METHODS: This study was a post hoc analysis of the FRAILTY-AVR (Frailty Assessment Before Cardiac Surgery & Transcatheter Interventions) prospective multicenter cohort that consisted of older adults undergoing TAVR from 2012 to 2017. Frailty was assessed using the Essential Frailty Toolset (EFT). Endpoints of interest were 30-day and 12-month all-cause mortality. Interaction tables and multivariable logistic regression models were used to investigate statistical interaction on the additive and multiplicative scales. RESULTS: The cohort consisted of 723 patients with a mean age of 84 ± 6 years, of which 556 (77%) had femoral access and 167 (23%) had nonfemoral access. In frail patients with EFT scores ≥3 (35%), nonfemoral access was associated with increased 30-day mortality (odds ratio [OR]: 3.91; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.48 to 10.31); whereas in nonfrail patients with EFT scores <3 (65%), nonfemoral access had no effect (OR: 1.29; 95% CI: 0.34 to 4.94). There was statistical evidence of interaction between frailty and access site on 30-day mortality on the additive scale (relative excess risk due to interaction = 5.95). Nonfemoral access was associated with increased 1-year mortality in frail patients (OR: 1.98; 95% CI: 1.00 to 3.93) but not in nonfrail patients (OR: 1.83; 95% CI: 0.90 to 3.74), although there was no statistical evidence of interaction. CONCLUSIONS: Frail patients undergoing TAVR via a more invasive nonfemoral access face a substantially higher risk of 30-day mortality, whereas nonfrail older adults tolerate the procedure with a low short-term risk irrespective of access route.