Cerebrovascular events post-transcatheter aortic valve replacement in a large cohort of patients: a FRANCE-2 registry substudy.

The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence, impact, and predictors of cerebrovascular events (CVEs) in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).Several issues remain unresolved post-TAVR, including CVEs.The FRANCE-2 (French Aortic Nation CoreValve and Edwards-2) registry prospectively included all patients who underwent TAVR in France and Monaco from January 2010 to October 2011. A total of 3,191 patients were analyzed. Six-month follow-up data were obtained. Events were adjudicated according to Valve Academic Research Consortium (VARC)-1 definition.Of the cohort, 3.98% experienced a CVE: 55% were major strokes, 14.5% minor strokes, and 30.5% transient ischemic attacks. The mean delay for CVE occurrence was 2 days (interquartile range: 0 to 7 days) with 48.5% of CVEs occurring within 2 days. There was no statistically significant difference in CVE rate with regard to the type of valve (p = 0.899) and the access route (p = 0.128). Patients with a CVE more frequently had new-onset paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (13.6% vs. 7.6%; p = 0.015). During follow-up, the unadjusted mortality rate was higher in patients with a CVE (26% vs. 16.5%; p = 0.002). By multivariate analysis, only advanced age (odds ratio: 1.05; 95% confidence interval: 1.02 to 1.08; p = 0.02) and having 2 valves implanted (odds ratio: 3.13; 95 confidence interval: 1.40 to 7.05; p = 0.006) were associated with a significant risk of CVEs.CVEs occur frequently after TAVR and are associated with an increased mortality rate. No difference exists in the CVE rate when exploring the type of valve or the access route. Advanced age and multiple valves implanted during the same procedure are predictors of CVE.