https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/150846/1/ehx391.pdf

2017 ESC/EACTS Guidelines for the management of valvular heart disease

2017 ESC/EACTS Guidelines for the management of valvular heart disease: The Task Force for the Management of Valvular Heart Disease of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS).

Frailty Assessment in the Cardiovascular Care of Older Adults

As the population ages, increasing numbers of older adults are undergoing surgery. Frailty is prevalent in older adults and may be a better predictor of post-operative morbidity and mortality than chronological age. The aim of this review was to examine the impact of frailty on adverse outcomes in the ‘older old’ and ‘oldest old’ surgical patients. A systematic review was undertaken. Electronic databases from 2010 to 2015 were searched to identify articles which evaluated the relationship between frailty and post-operative outcomes in surgical populations with a mean age of 75 and older. Articles were excluded if they were in non-English languages or if frailty was measured using a single marker only. Demographic data, type of surgery performed, frailty measure and impact of frailty on adverse outcomes were extracted from the selected studies. Quality of the studies and risk of bias was assessed by the Epidemiological Appraisal Instrument. Twenty-three studies were selected for the review and they were assessed as medium to high quality. The mean age ranged from 75 to 87 years, and included patients undergoing cardiac, oncological, general, vascular and hip fracture surgeries. There were 21 different instruments used to measure frailty. Regardless of how frailty was measured, the strongest evidence in terms of numbers of studies, consistency of results and study quality was for associations between frailty and increased mortality at 30 days, 90 days and one year follow-up, post-operative complications and length of stay. A small number of studies reported on discharge to institutional care, functional decline and lower quality of life after surgery, and also found a significant association with frailty. There was strong evidence that frailty in older-old and oldest-old surgical patients predicts post-operative mortality, complications, and prolonged length of stay. Frailty assessment may be a valuable tool in peri-operative assessment. It is possible that different frailty tools are best suited for different acuity and type of surgical patients. The association between frailty and return to pre-morbid function, discharge destination, and quality of life after surgery warrants further research.

/pdf/frailty-and-post-operative-outcomes-in-older-surgical-3zmi9ttjo1.pdf

Frailty and post-operative outcomes in older surgical patients: a systematic review.

Calcific aortic stenosis (AS) is the most prevalent heart valve disorder in developed countries. It is characterized by progressive fibro-calcific remodelling and thickening of the aortic valve leaflets that, over years, evolve to cause severe obstruction to cardiac outflow. In developed countries, AS is the third-most frequent cardiovascular disease after coronary artery disease and systemic arterial hypertension, with a prevalence of 0.4% in the general population and 1.7% in the population >65 years old. Congenital abnormality (bicuspid valve) and older age are powerful risk factors for calcific AS. Metabolic syndrome and an elevated plasma level of lipoprotein(a) have also been associated with increased risk of calcific AS. The pathobiology of calcific AS is complex and involves genetic factors, lipoprotein deposition and oxidation, chronic inflammation, osteoblastic transition of cardiac valve interstitial cells and active leaflet calcification. Although no pharmacotherapy has proved to be effective in reducing the progression of AS, promising therapeutic targets include lipoprotein(a), the renin-angiotensin system, receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL; also known as TNFSF11) and ectonucleotidases. Currently, aortic valve replacement (AVR) remains the only effective treatment for severe AS. The diagnosis and staging of AS are based on the assessment of stenosis severity and left ventricular systolic function by Doppler echocardiography, and the presence of symptoms. The introduction of transcatheter AVR in the past decade has been a transformative therapeutic innovation for patients at high or prohibitive risk for surgical valve replacement, and this new technology might extend to lower-risk patients in the near future.

Calcific aortic stenosis.

Objectives This study evaluated Multidimensional Geriatric Assessment (MGA) as predictor of mortality and major adverse cardiovascular and cerebral events (MACCE) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Background Currently used global risk scores do not reliably estimate mortality and MACCE in these patients. Methods This prospective cohort comprised 100 consecutive patients ≥70 years undergoing TAVI. Global risk scores (Society of Thoracic Surgeons [STS] score, EuroSCORE) and MGA-based scores (cognition, nutrition, mobility, activities of daily living [ADL], and frailty index) were evaluated as predictors of all-cause mortality and MACCE 30 days and 1 year after TAVI in regression models. Results In univariable analyses, all predictors were significantly associated with mortality and MACCE at 30 days and 1 year, except for the EuroSCORE at 30 days and instrumental ADL at 30 days and 1 year. Associations of cognitive impairment (odds ratio [OR]: 2.98, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07 to 8.31), malnutrition (OR: 6.72, 95% CI: 2.04 to 22.17), mobility impairment (OR: 6.65, 95% CI: 2.15 to 20.52), limitations in basic ADL (OR: 3.63, 95% CI: 1.29 to 10.23), and frailty index (OR: 3.68, 95% CI: 1.21 to 11.19) with 1-year mortality were similar compared with STS score (OR: 5.47, 95% CI: 1.48 to 20.22) and EuroSCORE (OR: 4.02, 95% CI: 0.86 to 18.70). Similar results were found for 30-day mortality and MACCE. Bivariable analyses, including STS score or EuroSCORE suggested independent associations of MGA-based scores (e.g., OR of frailty index: 3.29, 95% CI: 1.06 to 10.15, for 1-year mortality in a model including EuroSCORE). Conclusions This study provides evidence that risk prediction can be improved by adding MGA-based information to global risk scores. Larger studies are needed for the development and validation of improved risk prediction models.

Evaluation of Multidimensional Geriatric Assessment as a Predictor of Mortality and Cardiovascular Events After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation

Aims This study aimed to assess functional course in elderly patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and to find predictors of functional decline. Methods and results In this prospective cohort, functional course was assessed in patients ≥70 years using basic activities of daily living (BADL) before and 6 months after TAVI. Baseline EuroSCORE, STS score, and a frailty index (based on assessment of cognition, mobility, nutrition, instrumental and basic activities of daily living) were evaluated to predict functional decline (deterioration in BADL) using logistic regression models. Functional decline was observed in 22 (20.8%) of 106 surviving patients. EuroSCORE (OR per 10% increase 1.18, 95% CI: 0.83-1.68, P = 0.35) and STS score (OR per 5% increase 1.64, 95% CI: 0.87-3.09, P = 0.13) weakly predicted functional decline. In contrast, the frailty index strongly predicted functional decline in univariable (OR per 1 point increase 1.57, 95% CI: 1.20-2.05, P = 0.001) and bivariable analyses (OR: 1.56, 95% CI: 1.20-2.04, P = 0.001 controlled for EuroSCORE; OR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.17-2.02, P = 0.002 controlled for STS score). Overall predictive performance was best for the frailty index [Nagelkerke's R(2) (NR(2)) 0.135] and low for the EuroSCORE (NR(2) 0.015) and STS score (NR(2) 0.034). In univariable analyses, all components of the frailty index contributed to the prediction of functional decline. Conclusion Over a 6-month period, functional status worsened only in a minority of patients surviving TAVI. The frailty index, but not established risk scores, was predictive of functional decline. Refinement of this index might help to identify patients who potentially benefit from additional geriatric interventions after TAVI.

/pdf/predictors-of-functional-decline-in-elderly-patients-3nb08hui0g.pdf

Seraina Bischoff

Papers

Evaluation of Multidimensional Geriatric Assessment as a Predictor of Mortality and Cardiovascular Events After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation

Predictors of functional decline in elderly patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI)