Impact of valve prosthesis-patient mismatch on short-term mortality after aortic valve replacement.
BACKGROUND
The prosthesis used for aortic valve replacement (AVR) can be too small in relation to body size, thus causing valve prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM) and abnormally high transvalvular pressure gradients. This study examined if there is a relation between PPM and short-term mortality after operation.


RESULTS
The indexed valve effective orifice area (EOA) was estimated for each type and size of prosthesis being implanted in 1266 consecutive patients and used to define PPM as not clinically significant if >0.85 cm2/m2, as moderate if >0.65 cm2/m2 and <or=0.85 cm2/m2, and as severe if <or=0.65 cm2/m2; it was correlated with 30-day mortality and compared with other relevant variables. Moderate or severe PPM was present in 38% of patients. Thirty-day mortality was 4.6% (58/1266 patients) and the strongest independent predictors in multivariate analysis were left ventricular ejection fraction <40% (P=0.007), infectious endocarditis (P=0.002), emergent/salvage operation (P=0.002), cardiopulmonary bypass time >120 minutes (P=0.001), and PPM (P=0.003). Relative risk of mortality was increased 2.1-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.2 to 3.7) in patients with moderate PPM and 11.4-fold (4.4 to 29.5) in those with severe PPM. Moreover, risk of mortality for every category of PPM was higher in patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction <40% as compared with >or=40% (nonsignificant PPM, 2.7 versus 1.0; moderate PPM, 7.1 versus 1.8; severe PPM, 77.1 versus 11.3).


CONCLUSIONS
PPM is a strong and independent predictor of short-term mortality among patients undergoing AVR, and its impact is related both to its degree of severity and the status of left ventricular function. In contrast to other risk factors, moderate-severe PPM can be largely avoided with the use of a prospective strategy at the time of operation.
Blais
Claudia
C
Quebec Heart Institute/Laval Hospital, Laval University, Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada.
Dumesnil
Jean G
JG
Baillot
Richard
R
Simard
Serge
S
Doyle
Daniel
D
Pibarot
Philippe
P
D000368:Aged; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000601:surgery; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000592:standards*; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation / Q000401:mortality*; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011792:Quebec / Q000453:epidemiology; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013318:Stroke Volume; D014654:Vascular Patency