Background: In patients with aortic stenosis (AS), mitral regurgitation (MR) is a common finding. While surgical treatment of AS has been shown to result in a decrease in MR severity, little is known regarding this scenario in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Our aim was to assess the rate of significant MR in TAVI patients, and to explore the course of MR after the procedure.
Methods: We have studied our TAVI patients and assessed the rates of significant MR and followed the severity of MR at baseline, one month and six months after the procedure.
Results: 260 patients were included in the analysis. All patients were at very high risk for surgical valve replacement. The mean (±SD) patient age was 81.7±6.9 years, and 62% were female. Of these, 74 (28.4%) had mild to moderate MR or above at baseline. In the mild-moderate MR or above, there was a mean reduction of 0.9±0.97 in the degree of MR after 1 month and 1.2±1.1 after six months (p<0.01). In patients with moderate MR or above (n=26, 10% of the cohort), the respective improvement rates were 1.5±1.1 and 2.0±1.4 (p<0.01). Improvement of MR (1+ or greater) at six months was identified in 40/74 (54.1%) of patients with mild-moderate MR or above, and in 23/26 (88.5%) of those with moderate MR or above. The greatest degree of MR reduction was noted among the patients with the most severe degree of MR prior to TAVI (See figure).
