The impact of frailty on adverse outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve replacement in older adults: A retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is an effective alternative to surgical aortic valve replacement for patients who are at increased surgical risk. Consequently, frailty is common in patients undergoing TAVR. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the impact of frailty on outcomes following TAVR. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted, including all TAVR candidates who visited the geriatric outpatient clinic for preoperative screening. Frailty status was assessed according to the Groningen Frailty Indicator. The primary outcome of the study was defined as the occurrence of postoperative complications, and this was evaluated according to the Clavien-Dindo classification. An additional analysis was performed to assess the impact of frailty on 1-year all-cause mortality and complications within 30 days of TAVR according to the Valve Academic Research Consortium (VARC-2) criteria. The VARC-2 criteria provide harmonized endpoint definitions for TAVR studies. RESULTS: In total, 431 patients with a mean age of 80.8 ± 6.2 years were included, of whom 56% were female. Frailty was present in 36% of the participants. Frailty was associated with a higher risk of the composite outcome of complications [adjusted odds ratio (OR): 1.55 (95% confidence interval, CI: 1.03-2.34)], 30-day mortality [adjusted OR: 4.84 (95% CI: 1.62-14.49)], 3-month mortality [adjusted OR: 2.52 (95% CI: 1.00-6.28)] and 1-year mortality [adjusted OR: 2.96 (95% CI: 1.46-6.00)]. CONCLUSIONS: Frailty is common in TAVR patients and is associated with an increased overall risk of postoperative complications, particularly mortality. Increased optimization of screening and treatment of frailty in the guidelines for valvular heart diseases is recommended.