Percutaneous coronary intervention or medical therapy in patients with severe aortic stenosis and coronary artery disease undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation: a real-world analysis using data from an international network

Patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) due to severe aortic stenosis have a high prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD). As many of them have high surgical risk, CAD treatment in this group has typically been carried out with optimal medical treatment or paired with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, the best approach in this scenario is not well established. We aimed to evaluate 5-year cardiovascular outcomes in patients with aortic stenosis and chronic CAD treated with medical treatment alone compared to PCI coupled with medical therapy before or during TAVI. We used data from a large multinational electronic health record network (TriNetX). Patients aged 18 years or older with severe aortic stenosis and CAD who underwent TAVI in the last 10 years before the analysis were considered eligible. Five-year Kaplan-Meier curves and hazard ratios were calculated. We identified 19 058 patients undergoing isolated TAVI and 2277 patients undergoing TAVI and PCI. Using propensity matching scores, 2277 patients in each group were compared. The 5-year cumulative incidence of MACE was 22.92% in the isolated TAVI group, vs. 25.91% in the PCI-TAVI group. The probability of the composite primary outcome was not significantly different between the isolated TAVI group vs. the PCI-TAVI group [53.1 vs. 47.6%, adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 0.92, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.80-1.05]. In a real-world study of patients with CAD and severe aortic stenosis, the 5-year probability of death, acute coronary syndrome and ischemic stroke did not differ between patients undergoing isolated TAVI compared to patients undergoing PCI before or during TAVI.

Automated summary

In this study, we compared the long-term cardiovascular outcomes of patients with severe aortic stenosis and coronary artery disease (CAD) who received either medical treatment alone or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) coupled with medical therapy before or during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Through the analysis of a large multinational electronic health record network, we found that the 5-year probability of death, acute coronary syndrome, and ischemic stroke did not significantly differ between the two groups. These findings suggest that medical treatment alone may be as effective as PCI combined with TAVI for patients with CAD and severe aortic stenosis.