Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and aortic stenosis (AS) are frequent findings in the elderly population. Data regarding the influence of DM on the outcome of patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) due to AS are limited. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of DM on TAVI outcomes.
Methods: We investigated 404 men and women undergoing TAVI at the Sheba Medical Center. Subjects were divided into diabetic (N=166) and non-diabetic (N=240) groups of whom 117diabetic and 184 non-diabetic patients had a trans-femoral TAVI while the remaining patients underwent trans-apical implantation. Peri-procedural complications were recorded according to the Valve Academic Research Consortium (VARC)-2.
Results: Diabetic patients demonstrated similar complication rates compared with non-diabetic patients, except for post procedural mechanical ventilation which was more common in diabetics [15 (10%) vs. 8 (4%), p=0.01]. A trend was shown towards higher rates of post procedural heart failure (14% vs. 10%), new conduction delay (8% vs. 4%), stage 3 renal failure (2.5% vs. 0.4%) and stroke (4% vs. 2%). However, none of these findings was statistically significant. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis (FIGURE) showed similar 2-year survival between the diabetic and non-diabetic groups (log-rank p value 0.273).
Conclusions: Following TAVI, elderly diabetic patients have similar peri-procedural and long-term outcomes as non-diabetics. Further research in larger cohorts of patients is needed in order to validate our results.
