Timing of Susceptibility to Mortality and Heart Failure in Patients With Preexisting Atrial Fibrillation After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation

The relationship between cardiac rhythm and adverse events after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) remains unclear. To compare the prognostic impact of preexisting atrial fibrillation (AF) and new-onset AF (NOAF) after TAVI, we assessed 1,124 patients (846 with sinus rhythm [SR], 49 with NOAF, and 229 with preexisting AF) who underwent TAVI with a balloon-expandable valve from October 2013 to April 2016. The incidences of all-cause death and rehospitalization for heart failure (HF) were retrospectively evaluated. The median follow-up period was 370 days (range 188 to 613). In the Kaplan-Meier analysis, the incidences of all-cause death and rehospitalization for HF were significantly higher in patients with preexisting AF than those in patients with NOAF and SR. The multivariable analysis showed that preexisting AF was significantly associated with increased all-cause death (hazard ratio [HR] 1.54; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02 to 2.34) and rehospitalization for HF (HR 2.94; 95% CI 1.75 to 4.93). The landmark analysis demonstrated that patients with preexisting AF had a significantly higher incidence of rehospitalization for HF within the first 6 months after TAVI (HR 4.04; 95% CI 2.23 to 7.32), and a higher incidence of all-cause death from 6 months to 2 years after TAVI (HR 2.12; 95% CI 1.15 to 3.90). Our study demonstrated that preexisting AF increased the risk of all-cause death and rehospitalization for HF after TAVI in comparison with NOAF or SR. Moreover, there was a specific timing of susceptibility to all-cause death and rehospitalization for HF after TAVI.