Optimal Medical Therapy Following Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation

Limited data exist on optimal medical therapy post-transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) for late cardiovascular events prevention. We aimed to evaluate the benefits of beta-blocker (BB), renin-angiotensin system inhibitor (RASi), and their combination on outcomes following successful TAVI. In a consecutive cohort of 1,684 patients with severe aortic stenosis undergoing TAVI, the status of BB and RASi treatment at discharge was collected, and patients were classified into 4 groups: no-treatment, BB alone, RASi alone, and combination groups. The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause mortality and rehospitalization for heart failure (HHF) at 2-year. There were 415 (25%), 462 (27%), 349 (21%), and 458 (27%) patients in no-treatment, BB alone, RASi alone, and combination groups, respectively. The primary outcome was lower in RASi alone (21%; adjusted hazard ratio [HR]adj: 0.58; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.42 to 0.81) and combination (22%; HRadj: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.39 to 0.72) groups than in no-treatment group (34%) but no significant difference between RASi alone and combination groups (HRadj: 1.14; 95% CI: 0.80 to 1.62). The primary outcome results were maintained in a sensitivity analysis of patients with reduced left ventricular systolic function. Furthermore, RASi treatment was an independent predictor of 2-year all-cause mortality (HRadj: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.51 to 0.90), while that was not observed in BB therapy (HRadj: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.71 to 1.25). In conclusion, post-TAVI treatment with RASi, but not with BB, was associated with lower all-cause mortality and HHF at 2-year. The combination of RASi and BB did not add an incremental reduction in the primary outcome over RASi alone.