Early and late risk of ischemic stroke after TAVR as compared to a nationwide background population

Ischemic stroke is a feared complication associated with transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Data on the late risk of ischemic stroke following TAVR are scarce. This study aimed to investigate the early (0-90 days) and late (90 days-5 years) risk of ischemic cerebrovascular events (CVE) in a large, unselected cohort of patients undergoing TAVR and to compare this risk with a matched background population. Therefore, all patients undergoing first-time TAVR in Denmark were matched to a background population (controls) in a 1:4 ratio based on age, sex, atrial fibrillation (AF), and the major stroke risk factors. A total of 2455 TAVR patients were matched with 9820 controls. TAVR was associated with a significantly higher ischemic CVE risk as compared with their controls in the early phase [hazard ratio (HR) 5.35 [95% CI 3.50-8.17]; p < 0.001) but not in the late phase (HR 1.17 [95% CI 0.94-1.46]; p = 0.15). In a predefined stratified analysis, no patient-related factors were associated with this higher CVE risk in the early phase. The cumulative 90-day ischemic CVE risk was the lowest in TAVR-patients with known AF receiving oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy (1.3% [95% CI 0.6-2.5%] and was two-fold higher in OAC-naïve TAVR-patients (2.4% [95% CI 1.8-3.3%] in patients without AF and 2.5% [95% CI 0.9-5.3%] in patients with AF). In conclusion, TAVR was associated with an increased risk of ischemic CVE in the early phase, but not in the late phase, as compared to their matched controls-OAC therapy reduced this early risk of ischemic CVE by half.