Late Clinical and Hemodynamic Outcomes in patients with degenerated bioprosthetic aortic valves undergoing transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation

Background

Clinical studies have shown promising early outcomes for valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve implantation (ViV-TAVI); however, the late outcomes of this procedure remain under-investigated.

Purpose

We performed the present analysis to assess the late clinical and hemodynamic outcomes of ViV-TAVI in patients with degenerated bioprosthetic aortic valves.

Methods

A comprehensive chart review was performed for eligible patients to retrieve data on procedural characteristics, admission details following the procedure, and echocardiographic parameters. Clinical outcomes included all-cause mortality, heart failure hospitalization and structural valve deterioration (SVD), as defined by VARC-II criteria, up to 5 years of follow-up. To assess the trends in mean and peak transvalvular gradients, data from the follow-up echocardiographic reports were analyzed using Syngo Dynamics imaging software.

Results

A total of 188 patients were included with a mean age of 75.8±10.4 years. Balloon- and self-expandable valves were used in 155 (82.4%) and 33 (17.6%) patients, respectively. At 30 days, 3 (1.6%) patients died and 8 (4.2%) required hospitalization for heart failure, while at 5 years, both events were recorded in 29 (15.4%) and 37 (19.7) patients, respectively. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with smaller surgical valves (internal diameter ≤21 mm) had a significantly higher mortality rate (log-rank p=0.021) than those with larger valves; however, no significant difference (log-rank p=0.59) was detected between different transcatheter valves (self vs. balloon-expandable). Three patients underwent re-intervention, performed via a transcatheter approach. Further, assessment of follow-up echocardiographic reports revealed 9 (4.8%) cases of SVD, as well as stable mean (16.3±6.9 at discharge and 16.9±11.3) and peak (30.3±12.1 at discharge and 30.7±18.4 at 5 years) transvalvular gradients. No difference (p>0.05) was observed based on transcatheter valve type or surgical valve internal diameter in terms of mean and peak transvalvular gradients throughout the follow-up period.

Conclusion

The present study showed good clinical outcomes among patients undergoing VIV-TAVI, with stable VIV performance over a five-year period. Future long-term studies are warranted to analyze the predictors of outcomes following ViV-TAVI and explore the role of this treatment option in the life-long management of aortic stenosis.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: Private grant(s) and/or Sponsorship. Main funding source(s): Jennifer and Robert McNeil Donation to the Heart, Thoracic, and Vascular Institute at Cleveland Clinic. Figure 1

Association of statin use in older people primary prevention group with risk of cardiovascular events and mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

Background

Current evidence from randomized controlled trials on statins for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in older people, especially those aged >75 years, is still lacking.

Purpose

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies to extend the current evidence about association of statin use in older people primary prevention group with risk of CVD and mortality.

Methods

PubMed, Scopus, and Embase were searched from inception until March 18, 2021. We included observational studies (cohort or nested case-control) that compared statin use vs non-use for primary prevention of CVD in older people aged ≥65 years; provided that each of them reported the risk estimate on at least one of the following primary outcomes: all cause-mortality, CVD death, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke. Risk estimates of each relevant outcome were pooled as a hazard ratio (HR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) using the random-effects meta-analysis model.

Results

Ten observational studies (9 cohort and one case-control study; n=872,845) fulfilled our criteria. The overall combined estimate suggested that statin therapy was associated with a significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality (HR: 0.86 [95% CI: 0.79 to 0.93]), CVD death (HR: 0.80 [95% CI: 0.78 to 0.81]), and stroke (HR: 0.85 [95% CI: 0.76 to 0.94]) and a non-significant association with risk of MI (HR: 0.74 [95% CI: 0.53 to 1.02]). The beneficial association of statins with the risk of all-cause mortality remained significant even at higher ages (>75 years old; HR: 0.88 [95% CI: 0.81 to 0.96]) and in both men (HR: 0.75 [95% CI: 0.74 to 0.76]) and women (HR: 0.85 [95% CI: 0.72 to 0.99]). However, this association with the risk of all-cause mortality remained significant only in those with DM (HR: 0.82 [95% CI: 0.68 to 0.98]) but not in those without DM.

Conclusions

Statin therapy in older people (aged ≥65 years) without CVD was associated with a 14%, 20% and 15% lower risk of all-cause mortality, CVD death and stroke, respectively. The beneficial association with the risk of all-cause mortality remained significant even at higher ages (>75 years old), in both men and women, and in individuals with DM, but not in those without DM. These observational findings support the need for trials to test benefits of statins in those above 75 years of age.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None. Figure 1. Results of the meta-analysis

Two decades of neuroscience publication trends in Africa

Neuroscience research in Africa remains sparse. Devising new policies to boost Africa's neuroscience landscape is imperative, but these must be based on accurate data on research outputs which is largely lacking. Such data must reflect the heterogeneity of research environments across the continent's 54 countries. Here, we analyse neuroscience publications affiliated with African institutions between 1996 and 2017. Of 12,326 PubMed indexed publications, 5,219 show clear evidence that the work was performed in Africa and led by African-based researchers - on average ~5 per country and year. From here, we extract information on journals and citations, funding, international coauthorships and techniques used. For reference, we also extract the same metrics from 220 randomly selected publications each from the UK, USA, Australia, Japan and Brazil. Our dataset provides insights into the current state of African neuroscience research in a global context.