Discussion
In this study, there were four clinical observations. First, the incidence of PPM after TAVI using S3 was 14.6% overall in this Asian population. Second, PPM in S3 was more frequently observed than that in XT (14.6% vs 8.8%, p<0.0001). Third, the smaller-sized THV tended to be selected in S3 than XT. Last, the use of 20 mm THV was identified as a strong predictor for PPM in S3.
Data on Asian in TAVI remain insufficient. According to a study from the TVT registry, among 70 221 patients who underwent TAVI, the Asian race accounted for less than 1.5% of the entire cohort.19 Further, although the differences in PPM across races may exist,13 14 limited information on PPM after TAVI in Asian is available. Regarding PPM after TAVI in Asian patients, although our previous work included the largest numbers of Asian patients among the available literature, the study included only 139 patients who underwent TAVI using S3.14 Thus, the incidence of PPM after TAVI using S3 remained unclear. In contrast, the current study included a considerable number of patients and first determined the incidence of PPM after TAVI using S3 in Asian patients. The incidence of PPM in S3 was 14.6% in this Asian population, which was significantly lower than reported incidences of 45.0% to 47.8% in previous studies,11 20 21 possibly because Asians have a greater annulus to BSA ratio than Caucasians.14
It has been reported that S3 more frequently caused PPM in the previous studies from western countries with small numbers of patients.10 20 Similarly, the current study ascertained that S3 caused PPM about 1.92 times more than XT even in the Asian cohort (table 3 and figure 1). The structural differences between S3 and XT were the polyethylene terephthalate outer sealing skirt and the shape of the stent frame. Although the exact cause of the higher incidence of PPM in S3 than XT remains unclear, three possible causes were occupying annular space by additional material of the outer skirt, lower area oversizing design of S3, and the hyperboloid shape of S3. The outer sealing skirt of S3 significantly reduces paravalvular aortic regurgitation and allows a lesser degree of oversizing of S3 than XT.7–10 However, the presence of supplemental material of the outer skirt potentially occupying the annular space may cause PPM.10 Second, compared with XT, S3 needs a lesser degree of CT area oversizing according to the manufacturer (online supplemental table 1).22 In other words, a smaller-sized THV was more frequently used in S3 than XT. For example, in a TAVI procedure in a patient with an annulus area of 320 mm2, a 20 mm THV would be selected when S3 was used, but a 23 mm THV would be selected when XT (table 1). The feature of ‘the less oversizing design of S3’ was known as a reason for a low incidence of annulus rupture in S3. At the same time, the feature may be a cause of PPM in S3. Indeed, PPM was more frequently observed in smaller sized THV (figure 2). Last, regarding the hyperboloid shape of S3, some studies using postprocedural CT demonstrated that implanted S3 had a flared THV inflow shape, and the narrowest THV area was observed in the midportion of THV. Lower EOA in S3 might be attributed to a smaller THV area of the midportion of THV.23 24 Furthermore, it should be noted that the feature of the outer sealing skirt is strengthened and inherited by the newest balloon-expandable valve, SAPIEN 3 ULTRA valve (Edwards Lifesciences),25 which remains unavailable in Japan. The device sizing chart of SAPIEN 3 ULTRA is identical to that of S3, and the less oversizing design is also inherited. These features of SAPIEN 3 ULTRA would theoretically be a cause of PPM. Further studies to address this issue is warranted.
Regarding the analysis of the predictors for PPM, this study showed that some mutual predictors in the S3 and XT cohorts were identified: younger age, larger BSA, smaller aortic valve area and smaller-sized THV. Although these factors have been already reported in previous studies,2 12 14 it was highlighted in this study that the use of 20 mm THV and 23 mm THV were identified as predictors for PPM. Particularly, the use of 20 mm THV was identified as the powerful predictor as the OR of 20 mm THV when compared with 23 mm, 26 mm, and 29 mm THV was 5.67, 19.24 and 51.03, respectively. It may be likely that this finding was not a significant problem because the percentages of use of 20 mm S3 was low of 1.9% to 3.2% in previous studies from Western countries.8 13 21 However, the use of 20 mm S3 was indeed observed in 7.8% in this Asian cohort, possibly because of Asians’ smaller aortic annulus.14 26 27 Furthermore, about one-third of patients with 20 mm S3 developed PPM in this study (figure 2). Considering these findings, clinicians should know that 20 mm S3 is used more frequently in Asians than Caucasians, and PPM likely to occur even in Asian patients. Another finding in the multivariate analysis in this study is that the effect of postdilatation was significant with about 70% reduction in the occurrence of PPM in the S3 cohort (table 4). A previous study by Hahn et al showed the association between conducting postdilatation and larger EOA by postprocedural echocardiography but failed to demonstrate statistical significance on the association between post-dilation and the occurrence of PPM after TAVI using S3.21 Postdilatation may be more important in TAVI with S3 than XT in terms of PPM.
Not only any PPM but also severe did not predict all-cause mortality in the S3, XT or entire cohort in this study. This study may be statistically underpowered to determine the effect of severe PPM on mortality, according to the previous study.2 This study included only 22 patients with severe PPM. Not only was the entire sample size in this study smaller than the study from the TVT registry,2 but also the incidence rate of severe PPM was 10 times lower than that in their study. Thus, the impact of severe PPM of S3 on mortality was inconclusive in this study. Regarding other clinical outcomes, it should be noted that the prevalence of the mean transprosthetic PG ≥20 mm Hg by postprocedural echocardiography was significantly higher in the S3 than in the XT cohort (table 3). Notably, 54.6% of patients with PPM after TAVI using 20 mm S3 had the mean transprosthetic PG ≥20 mm Hg (figure 3). This finding would be a potential issue associated with poor long-term clinical outcomes, particularly in a lower surgical risk population.28 Considering the lack of long-term clinical effect of PPM, THV selection should be carefully performed when TAVI using S3 is performed in a patient with a small aortic annulus and large BSA in an era where TAVI is being increasingly performed in younger patients. Thus, an alternative device for TAVI to overcome the issue regarding PPM is warranted. In the meanwhile, postdilatation might be a modifiable variable to reduce the incidence of PPM after TAVI using S3.
Some limitations should be acknowledged. Errors can occur when estimating the prosthetic valve EOA by Doppler echocardiography as a result of the difficulty in measuring the stroke volume in the left ventricular outflow tract.12 There was no echocardiography core lab for this study. Selection bias might exist regarding postdilatation because whether conducting postdilatation was at operator’s discretion. Furthermore, we did not investigate the advantages and disadvantages of postdilatation.