Association Between Sarcopenia and Adverse Events Following Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation

Background: Sarcopenia, the age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass/function, has been identified as a marker of frailty. We examined the association between sarcopenia and adverse events following transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at Toronto General Hospital. All patients who underwent TAVI in the time period 2007-2017 with preoperative computed tomography were included. Skeletal muscle index (SMI) was calculated radiographically using psoas muscle area at the L3 vertebral level, divided by height. Various measures of sarcopenia, including mean SMI, SMI below the specific median, and SMI in the lowest sex-specific quartile calculated. The primary outcome was postoperative adverse defined as a composite of in-hospital mortality and morbidity including cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurologic, access-related, and gastrointestinal complications. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed to determine the association between sarcopenia adverse events. Results: A total of 468 patients (mean age: 80.7 years) were included. Baseline comorbidity burden was high, particularly congestive failure (93.4%). Postoperative adverse events occurred in 62 (13.2%). Univariate logistic regression demonstrated that operative adverse events were correlated with mean SMI (odds [OR] 0.81, 95% confidence interal [CI] 0.66-0.97), events were than the SMI (OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.24-3.84), and SMI in the sex-specific lowest quartile (OR 2.34, 95% CI 1.33-4.07). On multivariate analysis, SMI in the sex-specific lowest quartile was an independent predictor adverse events (OR 2.53, 95% CI 1.41-4.50).Conclusions: Sarcopenia defined by radiologic psoas muscle surements was independently associated with in-hospital mortality morbidity following TAVI.