Incidence and severity of paravalvular aortic regurgitation with multidetector computed tomography nominal area oversizing or undersizing after transcatheter heart valve replacement with the Sapien 3: a comparison with the Sapien XT.

OBJECTIVES

This study sought to compare the influence of the extent of multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) area oversizing on the incidence of paravalvular aortic regurgitation (PAR) between the Sapien 3 and the Sapien XT transcatheter heart valve (THV) to define a new MDCT sizing guideline suitable for the Sapien 3 platform.

BACKGROUND

The inverse relationship of PAR occurrence and oversizing has been demonstrated for the Sapien XT but the incidence of PAR with comparable oversizing with the Sapien 3 is not known.

METHODS

Sixty-one prospectively enrolled patients who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement with the Sapien 3 THV were compared with 92 patients who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement with the Sapien XT THV. Patients were categorized depending on the degree of MDCT area oversizing percentage: undersizing (below 0%), 0% to 5%, 5% to 10%, and above 10%. The primary endpoint was mild or greater PAR on transthoracic echocardiography.

RESULTS

Mild or greater PAR was present in 19.7% of patients (12 of 61) in the Sapien 3 group and in 54.3% of patients (50 of 92) in the Sapien XT group (p < 0.01). The Sapien 3 group, compared with the Sapien XT group, consistently demonstrated significantly lower rates of mild or greater PAR except for oversizing >10% (p for interaction = 0.54). Moderate or severe PAR rates were also lower in the Sapien 3 group than in the Sapien XT group (3.3% vs. 13.0%, p = 0.04). In the Sapien 3 group, a MDCT area oversizing percentage value of ≤4.17% was identified as the optimal cutoff value to discriminate patients with or without mild or greater PAR.

CONCLUSIONS

Our retrospective analysis suggests that the Sapien 3 THV displays significantly lower rates of PAR than does the Sapien XT THV. A lesser degree of MDCT area oversizing may be employed for this new balloon-expandable THV.