title: Does aortic valve replacement mitigate the risk of preoperative heart failure?
abstract: Congestive heart failure complicating aortic valve disease has been reported to increase the operative mortality associated with aortic valve replacement. To determine whether this adverse effect remains late after aortic valve replacement, we analyzed prospectively collected and survival data of 849 patients who underwent aortic valve replacement between 1999 and 2008. There were 243 (29%) cases of heart failure preoperatively (138 current and 105 prior). Both operative and late mortality rates (up to 10 years) were significantly higher in heart failure patients. Current congestive heart failure caused a 3-fold increase in operative mortality and an 86% increase in late mortality, whereas previous history of heart failure caused a doubling of late mortality. Preoperative heart failure still compromises early and late survival after aortic valve replacement. Surgery should be considered early in patients with aortic valve disease and deferred, when possible, in those with frank heart failure.
authors.affiliation: Cardiothoracic Centre, Castle Hill Hospital, Kingston-Upon-Hull, East Yorkshire, UK. dngaage@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Dumbor
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ngaage
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dickson
authors.forename: Levent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guvendik
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications* / Q000401:mortality; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018579:Patient Selection; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome