Background: Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) is performed mostly in elderly patients, and may be associated with complications and mortality. Consequently, patient selection is of great importance. Norton scale is used for assessing pressure ulcer risk, but recent studies show that low admission Norton scale scores (ANSS) have also other prognostic features in the elderly. We aimed to determine the association between low ANSS, complications, and mortality in elderly patients following TAVI.
Methods: Medical charts were studied of all elderly patients (>75 years) undergoing TAVI between March 2009 and October 2012 at the Tel Aviv Medical Center, Israel, for the following measurements: ANSS, demographics, co-morbidities, complications following procedure and during hospitalization, and 1-year mortality. ANSS≤16 were considered low.
Results: The cohort included 240 elderly patients: 148 (61.7%) were females and mean age was 83.2±5.2 years. Following TAVI, 90 (37.5%) patients had complications other than pressure ulcers and 29 (12.1%) patients died within one year. Mean ANSS was 18.5 and 31 (12.9%) patients had low ANSS. 1-year mortality rates were higher in patients with low ANSS relative to those with high ANSS (27.6 vs 10.9%; odds ratio 3.1; p=0.033) and cumulative survival was lower in patients with low ANSS. Incidence of complications other than pressure ulcers was similar.
Conclusions: Norton scale can be used for predicting 1-year mortality in elderly patients following TAVI.
