Effect of gender differences on 1-year mortality after transcatheter aortic valve implantation for severe aortic stenosis: results from a multicenter real-world registry.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this analysis is to examine the influence of gender differences on the outcome after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) from a multicenter real-world registry in Germany (TAVI registry).

BACKGROUND: The impact of gender differences on the clinical outcome after TAVI was examined in small studies with conflicting results.

METHODS: Consecutive patients (n = 1,432) undergoing TAVI in the period between January 2009 and June 2010 in Germany were evaluated. Differences in all-cause mortality were examined with Kaplan-Meier estimates and proportional hazards models.

RESULTS: Women comprised 57.8 % of the cohort. The Edwards Sapien valve (18.5 %) and CoreValve (81.5 %) were used through the transfemoral (87.7 %), subclavian (3.0 %), transapical (8.6 %), or transaortic approach (0.7 %). At baseline, women had higher aortic gradients and were older. Men had more comorbidities: prior myocardial infarction, prior revascularization, prior coronary artery bypass surgery, peripheral arterial vascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Women had more periprocedural vascular complications in comparison to men (25.2 vs. 17.2 %, p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in mortality at 30-day follow-up (7.6 % for women vs. 8.6 % for men, p = 0.55). The adjusted HR for 1-year all-cause mortality favored women, HR 0.75 (95 % CI 0.57-0.98, p = 0.0346) with a mortality rate of 17.3 vs. 23.6 % for men.

CONCLUSIONS: Female gender is associated with better 1-year survival after TAVI. These results suggest that TAVI could be the best treatment modality for elderly women with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis.