In-Hospital Outcomes of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Versus Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement in Obesity

Surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) has been the standard of care for treatment of AS for many years. [...]since the introduction of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in 2002, it has been shown to have similar, or even better, clinical outcomes in patients with at least intermediate surgical risk.2 Obesity, defined as body mass index ≥30 kg/m2, is very prevalent in patients who are being referred for treatment of severe AS, and recent data has estimated that 13% to 17% of patients referred to TAVR are obese.3–5 Evidence supporting the safety of TAVR in obese patients, however, is limited and the best therapeutic approach in this patient population remains debatable. In-hospital mortality was lower in TAVR (odds ratio [OR] 0.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.42 to 0.96, p = 0.04, I2 = 64%).