Cardiac Computed Tomography Angiography Anatomical Characterization of Patients Screened for a Dedicated Transfemoral Transcatheter Valve System for Primary Aortic Regurgitation.

Background: Cardiac computed tomography angiography was used to identify anatomical characteristics of the aortic root in patients with severe aortic regurgitation (AR) as compared to those with aortic stenosis (AS) to judge feasibility of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) with the JenaValve Trilogy system.
Methods: Cardiac computed tomography angiography was performed prior to planned TAVR for 107 patients with severe AR and 92 patients with severe AS. Measurements related to aortic root and coronary artery anatomy were obtained and compared between groups. Perimeter >90 mm and aortic annulus angle ​>70 degrees were defined as the theoretical exclusion criteria for TAVR. A combination of sinus of Valsalva diameter <30 mm and coronary height <12 mm was defined as high risk for coronary occlusion.
Results: The mean age of patients in the AR group was 74.9 ± 11.2 years, 46% were women, and the mean Society of Thoracic Surgeons risk score for mortality was 3.6 ± 2.1. Comparatively, the mean age of patients in the AS group was 82.3 ± 5.53 years, 65% were women, and the mean Society of Thoracic Surgeonsrisk score was 5.5 ± 3.3. Annulus area, perimeter, diameter, and angle were larger in patients with severe AR. Sinus of Valsalva diameters and heights were larger in patients with severe AR. More AR patients were excluded based on perimeter (14 vs. 2%) and annulus angle (6 vs. 1%). More AS patients exhibited high-risk anatomy for left main coronary occlusion (21 vs. 7%) and right coronary occlusion (14 vs. 3%). The maximum dimension of the ascending aorta was larger in patients with severe AR (39 vs. 35 mm). The percentage of referred AR patients with significant aortopathy requiring surgical intervention was very low (only 1 AR patient with ascending aorta diameter >5.5 cm).
Conclusions: A significantly larger proportion of patients with severe AR are excluded from TAVR as compared to AS due to large aortic annulus size and steep annulus angulation. By far the most prevalent excluding factor is aortic annulus size, with fewer patients excluded due to angulation. AR patients have lower-risk anatomy for coronary occlusion. Larger transcatheter valve sizes and further delivery system modifications are required to treat a larger proportion of AR patients.
Competing Interests: Dr. George is a consultant for Durvena, Cardiomech, Vdyne, Valcare Medical, Atricure, Zimmer Biomet, MITrx, Mitremedical and has institutional grants from Edwards, Medtronic, Abbott. Dr. Khalique is a consultant for Edwards, Abbott Structural, Triflo, Cardiac Implants, Restore Medical, and Croivalve and is a member of a corelab (he receives no direct industry compensation) with contracts with Ancora, Jenavalve, Atricure, and Abbott Structural and holds equity in Triflo and Cardiac Implants. Dr. Vahl reports institutional funding to Columbia University Medical Center from Abbott, Boston Scientific, Edwards, Jenavalve, and Medtronic, and has received consulting fees from 4D Medical Technologies and Baylis Medical. Dr. Chen is a member of a corelab (she receives no direct industry compensation) with contracts with Ancora and Jenavalve and is a consultant for Intrinsic Imaging, LLC. Dr. McCabe is a consultant for Edwards, Boston Scientific, Medtronic and CSI and holds equity in ConKay Medical and Excision Medical. Vinod Thourani is a medical advisor for Edwards, is a national PI for the Jenavalve Pivotal trial, and is co-founder of Apica cardiovascular. Dr. Treede reports consulting fees from TRICARES. Dr. Baldus reports honoraria from Edwards and Abbott, and a research grant from Abbott. Dr. Zahr reports institutional research support from Edwards and Medtronic. Dr. Russo reports honoraria from Edwards and Abbott. Dr. Leon has received institutional grants from Abbott, Boston Scientific, Edwards, Jenavalve, and Medtronic and holds equity in Valve Medical, Picardia, and Venus MedTech. Dr. Makkar received grant support from Edwards and is a consultant for Abbott, Cordis, and Medtronic.
(© 2023 The Authors.)