Open Access

Philipp Seppelt, Roberta De Rosa, Silvia Mas-Peiro, Andreas M. Zeiher, Mariuca Vasa-Nicotera

• Replacement of a stenotic aortic valve reduces immediately the ventricular to aortic gradient and is expected to improve diastolic and systolic left ventricular function over the long term. However, the hemodynamic changes immediately after valve implantation are so far poorly understood. Within this pilot study, we performed an invasive pressure volume loop analysis to describe the early hemodynamic changes after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) with self-expandable prostheses. Invasive left ventricular pressure volume loop analysis was performed in 8 patients with aortic stenosis (mean 81.3 years) prior and immediately after transfemoral TAVI with a self-expandable valve system (St. Jude Medical Portico Valve). Parameters for global hemodynamics, afterload, contractility and the interaction of the cardiovascular system were analyzed. Left ventricular ejection fraction, (53.9% vs. 44.8%, p = 0.018), preload recruitable stroke work (68.5 vs. 44.8 mmHg, p = 0.012) and end-systolic elastance (3.55 vs. 2.17, p = 0.036) both marker for myocardial contractility declined significantly compared to baseline. As sign of impaired diastolic function, TAU, a preload-independent measure of isovolumic relaxation (37.3 vs. 41.8 ms, p = 0.018) and end-diastolic pressure (13.1 vs. 16.4 mmHg, p = 0.015) raised after valve implantation. Contrarily, a smaller ratio of end-systolic to arterial elastance (ventricular-arterial coupling) indicates an improvement of global cardiovascular energy efficiency (1.40 vs. 0.97 p = 0.036). Arterial elastance had a strong correlation with the number of conducted rapid ventricular pacings (Pearson correlation coefficient, r = 0.772, p = 0.025). Invasive left ventricular pressure volume loop analysis revealed impaired systolic and diastolic function in the early phase after TAVI with self-expandable valve for the treatment of severe aortic stenosis. Contrarily, we found indications for early improvement of global cardiovascular energy efficiency.