Spontaneous Echocardiographic Contrast in the Left Atrium during Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement is Associated with Worse Outcomes

Objectives: Patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) often have spontaneous echocardiographic contrast (SEC) observed in the left atrium (LA). Mid-term prognosis of patients with SEC following TAVR is not well studied. We assessed the impact of SEC on outcomes after TAVR. METHODS: Medical records of 93 consecutive patients who underwent TAVR at a single center were reviewed retrospectively. The primary endpoint was defined as the composite of a cardioembolic event, death from any cause, and admission for decompensated heart failure within 3 months of TAVR. RESULTS: After excluding 3 patients who had procedural complications, 90 patients were included in the study. The mean age was 81 ± 8 years old and 50% were male. There were 12 patients with SEC in the LA (group 1) and 78 patients without SEC in the LA (group 2) during the TAVR procedure. Atrial fibrillation was more common in group 1 (50% vs 13%, respectively; P≤.01) and diabetes was more common in group 2 (17% vs 53%, respectively; P≤.03). The primary endpoint occurred in 22 patients (24%) and occurred more in group 1 (58% vs 19%, respectively; P<.01). On regression analysis, after adjusting for sex and STS score, SEC had a hazard ratio (HR) of 5.02 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.96-12.9; P<.001) and STS ≥15 had an HR of 6.37 (95% CI, 2.02-20.1; P≤.01). On survival analysis, group 1 had lower event-free survival compared with group 2 (log-rank P≤.01). CONCLUSION: SEC during TAVR procedure is a negative prognostic marker for death, cardioembolic events, or admission for decompensated heart failure in the first 3 months post procedure.