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Frailty is a syndrome of impaired physiologic reserve and decreased resistance to stressors and can often be seen in high-risk patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Preoperative frailty status is thought to be related to adverse outcomes after TAVR. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the impact of preoperative frailty status on outcomes among patients after TAVR.
PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched for relevant studies through January 2018. Fourteen articles (n = 7489) meeting the inclusion criteria were finally included. Possible effects were calculated using meta-analysis.
The pooled risk ratios (RRs) of late mortality (>6 months) and acute kidney injury after TAVR in frail group were 2.81 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.90–4.15, P < .001, I 2 = 84%) and 1.41 (95% CI 1.02–1.94, P = .04, I 2 = 24%), respectively. Compared with non-frail group, significantly higher incidence of 30-day mortality (RR 2.03, 95% CI 1.63–2.54, P < .001, I 2 = 0%) and life threatening or major bleeding after TAVR (RR 1.48, 95% CI 1.20–1.82, P < .001, I 2 = 14%) was found in frail group. There was no significant association between frailty and incidence of stroke after TAVR (RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.53–1.63, P = .80, I 2 = 0%).
Preoperative frailty status is proved to be significantly associated with poor outcomes after TAVR. Our findings may remind doctors in the field of a more comprehensive preoperative evaluation for TAVR candidates. More well-designed and large-sample sized prospective studies are further needed to figure out the best frailty assessment tool for patients undergoing TAVR.