Five-Meter Walk Test as a Predictor of Prolonged Index Hospitalization After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation

Am J Cardiol. 2020 Oct 1:132:100-105. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2020.07.016. Epub 2020 Jul 13.

Abstract

There are no studies evaluating comprehensive predictors of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) outcomes encompassing frailty assessments in a South-East Asian cohort. In this longitudinal single-center cohort, all patients who underwent TAVI in a tertiary cardiac center and comprehensively assessed for frailty at baseline were included in a registry. The primary outcome was to investigate frailty indices predictive of prolonged index hospitalization after TAVI. Seventy-six patients with a mean age of 77.6 ± 8.5 years were included. Mean Society of Thoracic Society Predicted Risk of Mortality score was 5.2 ± 3.0, with 11 (14.5%) patients classified as high-risk (Society of Thoracic Society Predicted Risk of Mortality >8). Mean and median index hospitalization duration were 9.2 ± 5.6 and 7 [4.5 to 9.5] days, respectively. Univariate analysis demonstrated that lower hemoglobin (Hb) (p <0.01), longer 5-meter walk test (5MWT) (p <0.01), lower dominant hand grip strength (p <0.01), the use of transaortic access (p = 0.01), new atrial fibrillation post-TAVI (p <0.01), and lower postprocedural Hb (p <0.01) were associated with longer index hospitalization duration. Multivariate linear regression demonstrated preoperative Hb, preoperative atrial fibrillation and 5MWT were independent baseline predictors of index hospitalization duration (p <0.05). Additionally, a 5MWT cutoff of 11 seconds (0.45 m/s) had a high specificity (88.6%) in predicting prolonged index hospitalization duration. In conclusion, this is the first comprehensive frailty assessment in a South-East Asian cohort demonstrating 5MWT to be a significant predictor of prolonged index hospitalization. This simple and effective frailty assessment index may be considered to optimize patient selection for TAVI.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aortic Valve Stenosis / surgery*
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Hospitalization / trends*
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Male
  • Postoperative Complications / diagnosis*
  • Postoperative Complications / epidemiology
  • Postoperative Period
  • Prognosis
  • Registries*
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Risk Assessment / methods*
  • Risk Factors
  • Singapore / epidemiology
  • Time Factors
  • Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement / methods*
  • Walk Test / methods*