New Test Can Better Predict Long-Term Death Risk After Heart Valve Procedure

A simple test done during a minimally invasive heart valve replacement can predict a patient’s long-term risk of death, a group led by a University of Florida Health researcher has found.

The test involves pressure measurements within the heart following a transcatheter aortic valve replacement or TAVR. The highly specialized procedure involves repairing a failing heart valve by inserting a functioning valve in its place. Many physicians record pressures inside the heart immediately after the procedure but as many as one-third do not obtain pressures. Patients who had abnormal intracardiac pressure were more than twice as likely to die within two years, the researchers determined.

“We found that 22% of patients had abnormal intracardiac pressures. Patients who had abnormal intracardiac pressures experienced a doubling in their long-term mortality,” said Anthony Bavry, M.D., an associate professor in the UF College of Medicine’s department of medicine and a cardiologist at the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center.

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