Right Heart Reverse Remodeling and Prosthetic Valve Function After Transcatheter vs Surgical Pulmonary Valve Replacement.

BACKGROUND: There are limited data about postprocedural right heart reverse remodeling and long-term prosthesis durability after transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement (TPVR) and how these compare to surgical pulmonary valve replacement (SPVR).

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to compare right heart reverse remodeling, pulmonary valve gradients, and prosthetic valve dysfunction after TPVR vs SPVR.

METHODS: Patients with TPVR were matched 1:2 to patients with SPVR based on age, sex, body surface area, congenital heart lesion, and procedure year. Right heart indexes (right atrial [RA] reservoir strain, RA volume index, RA pressure, right ventricular [RV] global longitudinal strain, RV end-diastolic area, and RV systolic pressure) were assessed at baseline (preintervention), 1 year postintervention, and 3 years postintervention. Pulmonary valve gradients were assessed at 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 years postintervention.

RESULTS: There were 64 and 128 patients in the TPVR and SPVR groups, respectively. Among patients with TPVR, 46 (72%) and 18 (28%) received Melody (Medtronic) vs SAPIEN (Edwards Lifesciences) valves, respectively. The TPVR group had greater postprocedural improvement in RA reservoir strain and RV global longitudinal strain at 1 and 3 years. The TPVR group had a higher risk of prosthetic valve dysfunction mostly because of a higher incidence of prosthetic valve endocarditis compared to SPVR but a similar risk of pulmonary valve reintervention because some of the patients with endocarditis received medical therapy only. Both groups had similar pulmonary valve mean gradients at 9 years postintervention.

CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest a more favorable right heart outcome after TPVR. However, the risk of prosthetic valve endocarditis and prosthetic valve dysfunction remains a major concern.