Various
frailty markers have been developed to guide better patient selection for
transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). This study aimed to investigate the frequency and specific causes of
unplanned hospital readmission after TAVI, and to investigate which
frailty markers better predicted outcomes.Methods and Results:We retrospectively reviewed 155 patients for whom we calculated their Short Physical-Performance Battery (SPPB), Placement of AoRTic TraNscathetER Valve (PARTNER)
frailty scale,
frailty index, clinical
frailty scale, modified Fried scale, and gait speed. The primary endpoint was
unplanned readmission following TAVI. The clinical model was established using variables that were identified as independent predictors in multivariate analysis. Incremental values were assessed after adding each
frailty marker to the clinical model, and were compared between
frailty markers. Although
unplanned readmission <30 days was 1.9%, 23% of patients had an
unplanned readmission following TAVI mainly because of
heart failure and
pneumonia within 1 year.
Frailty markers other than the modified Fried scale were independently associated with
unplanned readmission. The SPPB and the PARTNER
frailty scale significantly increased discriminatory performance for predicting
unplanned readmission.
CONCLUSIONS:
Unplanned readmissions following TAVI in the present study were fewer than previously reported. There seems to be a difference between
frailty markers in their predictive performance. Precise
frailty assessment may result in reducing unplanned admissions after TAVI and therefore better quality of life.