Transcatheter aortic valve implantation for severe aortic stenosis in the Australian regional population

Objective To compare clinical and functional outcomes of regional and urban patients after transcatheter aortic valve implantation for severe aortic stenosis. Methods Data were collected at patient follow‐up post‐transcatheter aortic valve implantation at 30 days and 12 months. Patients were stratified by residential postcodes into remoteness areas using the Australian Statistical Geography Standard. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Single‐centre tertiary referral hospital. Participants Patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (n = 142) from 2009 to 2018 were analysed, with 77 patients (54.2%) residing in regional Victoria and New South Wales. Main outcome measures Procedural success, adverse event rates, readmission rates, mortality rates, loss to follow‐up and functional improvement. Results Patients residing in regional areas had a lower mean age (81.8 vs 83.7 years) and proportion of Stage 4 or 5 chronic kidney disease (1.3% vs 9.2%), compared with urban patients. Procedural characteristics and immediate post‐procedural outcomes were similar between both groups. There was no statistically significant difference in mortality, readmission rates or loss to follow‐up between the two cohorts. Regional patients demonstrated poorer rates of functional improvement at 30 days (50.7% vs 67.7%); however, this difference was not sustained at 12 months (79.2% vs 71.0%). Frailty was demonstrated to be an independent predictor of poor 30‐day functional improvement. Conclusion Regional patients treated with transcatheter aortic valve implantation for severe aortic stenosis have non‐inferior 30‐day and 12‐month outcomes, when compared with urban patients. Frailty is a predictor of poor functional improvement post‐transcatheter aortic valve implantation.