title: Significant aortic regurgitation after transfemoral aortic valve implantation: patients' gender as independent risk factor.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Significant aortic regurgitation (AR) has been reported in 20% of patients undergoing transfemoral aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and has been associated with increased mortality. Depending on the population included and the type of implanted prosthesis, several anatomical and procedural factors have been linked with increased risk of post-TAVI AR. While the impact of patients' gender on this complication, is still contradictory. We sought to assess the impact of patients' gender on the risk of significant AR after TAVI.
  
  
  METHODS
  We included 323 consecutive patients (136 men) who underwent transfemoral implantation of either self-expandable or balloon-expandable prostheses for treatment of symptomatic aortic stenosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After TAVI 52 patients (16.1%) had AR grade ≥ 2/4 as evaluated by angiography. They were more frequently male (59.6% vs. 40.4%, P = 0.005), received self-expandable (94.2% vs. 63.5%, P < 0.001) and bigger size prostheses (28 ± 1.9 vs. 27.3 ± 2.1 mm, P = 0.028) and had reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (45.3% ± 14.2% vs. 51.2% ± 13%, P = 0.003) compared to patients with AR grade < 2/4 (N. = 271). In multivariate analysis, men (OR 2.13 [95% CI, 1.08-4.18]) and prosthesis type (OR 13.17 [95% CI, 3.24-57.97]) were identified as independent predictors of AR grade ≥ 2/4.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Alongside with the implantation of self-expandable aortic prosthesis, male gender independently increases the risk of significant AR in patients undergoing TAVI. The question if this finding is related to gender biology itself or to gender-related aggregation of subtle anatomic characteristics needs further investigations.
authors: Munich University Clinic, Munich, Germany - david.jochheim@med.uni-muenchen.de.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Jochheim
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Abdel-Wahab
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Mehilli
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Ellert
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Wübken-Kleinfeld
authors: M
authors: M
authors: El-Mawardy
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Pache
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Massberg
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Kastrati
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Richardt
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D065467:Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement / Q000379:methods*