OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic impact of right ventricular (RV)-pulmonary arterial (PA) coupling in patients with heart failure (HF) with severe secondary mitral... Show moreOBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic impact of right ventricular (RV)-pulmonary arterial (PA) coupling in patients with heart failure (HF) with severe secondary mitral regurgitation (SMR) enrolled in the COAPT (Cardiovascular Outcomes Assessment of the MitraClip Percutaneous Therapy for Heart Failure Patients With Functional Mitral Regurgitation) trial.BACKGROUND RV contractile function and PA pressures influence outcomes in patients with SMR, but the impact of RV-PA coupling in patients randomized to transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) vs guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) is unknown.METHODS RV-PA coupling was assessed by the ratio of RV free wall longitudinal strain derived from speckle-tracking echocardiography and noninvasively measured RV systolic pressure. Advanced RV-PA uncoupling was defined as RV free wall longitudinal strain/RV systolic pressure <= 0.5%/mm Hg. The primary endpoint was a composite of all-cause mortality or HF hospitalization at 24-month follow-up.RESULTS A total of 372 patients underwent speckle-tracking echocardiography, and 70.2% had advanced RV-PA uncoupling. By multivariable analysis, advanced RV-PA uncoupling was strongly associated with an increased risk for the primary 24-month endpoint of death or HF hospitalization (HR: 1.87; 95% CI: 1.31-2.66; P = 0.0005). A similar association was present for all-cause mortality alone (HR: 2.57; 95% CI: 1.54-4.29; P = 0.0003). The impact of RV-PA uncoupling was consistent in patients randomized to TEER and GDMT alone. Compared with GDMT alone, the addition of TEER improved 2-year outcomes in patients with (48.0% vs 74.8%; HR: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.37-0.71) and those without (28.8% vs 47.8%; HR: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.27-0.97) advanced RV-PA uncoupling (P-interaction = 0.98).CONCLUSIONS In the COAPT trial, advanced RV dysfunction assessed by RV-PA uncoupling was a powerful predictor of 2-year adverse outcomes in patients with HF and SMR. (Cardiovascular Outcomes Assessment of the MitraClip Percutaneous Therapy for Heart Failure Patients With Functional Mitral Regurgitation [The COAPT Trial]; NCT01626079) (C) 2021 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation. Show less
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is an established therapy for patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis. Technological advances and the learning curve have resulted in better... Show moreTranscatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is an established therapy for patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis. Technological advances and the learning curve have resulted in better procedural results in terms of hemodynamic valve performance and intermediate-term clinical outcomes. The integration of anatomical and functional information provided by multimodality imaging has improved size selection of TAVR prostheses, permitted better patient selection, and provided new insights in the performance of the TAVR prostheses at follow-up. Furthermore, the field of TAVR continues to develop and expand the technique to younger patients with lower risk on the one hand, and more complex clinical scenarios, on the other hand, such as degenerated aortic bioprostheses, bicuspid aortic valves, or pure native aortic regurgitation. The present review article summarizes how multimodality imaging can be integrated in TAVR in clinical (sometimes complex) scenarios that have not been included in the landmark randomized clinical trials. (C) 2020 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation. Show less
