For patients with high surgery risk, the one-year survival rate is similar for less invasive catheter-based aortic valve replacement and open valve-replacement surgery.
The PARTNER (Placement of AoRTic traNscathetER valves) Trial took place at 26 centers in the U.S., Canada and Germany. Findings of the trial – first ever randomized clinical trial of a transcatheter aortic heart valve – appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. The results were also presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 60th Annual Scientific Session & Expo in New Orleans, La on Apr. 3, and the Transcatheter Valve Therapies meeting in Vancouver, Canada on Jun. 5.
“These results show that a balloon-expandable transcatheter valve replacement in patients at high risk for surgery is as safe and effective as open surgery, which is the ‘gold standard’ for most patients,” states, Dr. Craig Smith, first author of the study, chairman of the Department of Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, the Valentine Mott Professor of Surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Johnson & Johnson Distinguished Professor.
The aortic valve is replaced for treating severe aortic stenosis, a condition in which the valve becomes narrow and restricts blood flow from the heart and is associated with a high risk for mortality if not treated.
“Many patients with aortic stenosis are at high risk for complications and death following open surgery due to advanced age, poor left ventricular function, and other co-morbidities. For these patients, a less invasive treatment may be desirable,” states Dr. Martin Leon, co-principal investigator of the study, professor of medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and associate director of the Cardiovascular Interventional Therapy (CIVT) Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.
It was found that during the first 30 days after the surgery, death from any cause took place in 3.4% of patients in the transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) group, in comparison to 6.5% in the AVR group. However, after one year, the risk for mortality was almost the same: 24.2% in the TAVR group and 26.8% in the AVR group.
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