P2453Value of pre-operative left atrial minimum volume as a surrogate for post-operative symptoms in patients with aortic stenosis who underwent aortic valve replacement
Authors: Hozumi T , Morimoto J , Takemoto K , Wada T , Maniwa N , Kashiwagi M , Shimamura K , Shiono Y , Kuroi A , Matsuo Y , Kitabata H , Ino Y , Kubo T , Tanaka A , Akasaka T 
Published: October 2019

Background

Previous reports have shown that symptoms after aortic valve replacement (AVR) are not uncommon depending on severity of myocardial fibrosis in patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS). Pre-operative minimum left atrial volume (LAVmin) at end-diastole determined by direct exposure of left ventricular end-diastolic pressure may be used as a surrogate for post-operative symptoms in patients with severe AS undergoing AVR.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine the value of pre-operative echocardiographic LAVmin index (LAVImin) to predict post-operative symptomatic status after AVR in patients with severe AS.

Methods

The study population consisted of 219 patients with severe AS who underwent AVR and were followed up for 1000 days after AVR. Pre-operative maximum LAV index (LAVImax), LAVImin, LA emptying fraction (LAEF), LV volume indexes, LV ejection fraction (LVEF) by biplane Simpson's method, aortic valve area index (AVAI), mean aortic valve pressure gradient (mAV-PG), E/A, mean E/e' from LV inflow and mitral annular velocity, and pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) were evaluated by Doppler echocardiography.

Results

After exclusion of 136 patients who met the exclusion criteria (atrial fibrillation, significant coronary artery disease, significant mitral valve diseases, pacemaker rhythm, and inadequate echocardiographic images), the final study population consisted of 75 patients (75±7 years old, 46 female). During a follow-up, 19 patients (25%) complained post-operative symptoms. There were no significant differences in pre-operative serum hemoglobin, creatinine, BNP, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, diabetes, LV volume indexes, LVEF, AVA, mAV-PG between patients with and without post-operative symptoms. There were significant differences in pre-operative LAVImax, LAVImin, and LAEF between patients with and without post-operative symptoms. (60±15 vs 47±15 ml/m2, 45±15 vs 28±1 ml/m2, and 29±12 vs 42±11 ml/m2, respectively). E/A, mean E/e', and PASP in patients with symptoms were significantly greater compared with patients without symptoms (1.0±0.3 vs 0.7±0.2, 25±3 vs 18±2, 44±17 vs 32±9 mmHg, respectively). In the multivariate analysis, pre-operative LAVImin was the independent predictor of the post-operative symptomatic status after AVR (odds ratio: 1.11, 95% confidence interval: 1.04 - 1.18). Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that area under the curve (AUC) of LAVImin (cutoff: 30ml/m2) for post-operative symptoms was the largest (0.84) among the other echocardiographic parameters, and significantly larger than that of mean E/e' (0.67, *p<0.01) and LVEF (0.53, **p<0.05) (figure).

Figure 1. ROC analysis

Conclusions

The present results suggest that pre-operative echocardiographic LAVImin may be used as a surrogate for post-operative symptomatic status after AVR in patients with severe AS.