2-year PARTNER data published

While the last 5 years have seen an incredible expansion in the use of transcatheter aortic vlave replacement (TAVR) for patients with severe aortic stenosis who are not considered suitable for surgery, long-term outcomes data remain scant. The randomised Placement of Aortic Transcatheter Valves (PARTNER) trial found that, as compared with standard therapy, TAVR reduced symptoms and decreased death at 1 year. Two-year follow-up data from the trial have now been published.

Of the 358 patients who underwent randomisation at 21 centres, 43.3% had died at 2 years, compared with 68.0% in the standard therapy group (p<0.001). The rates of cardiac death were similarly higher in the standard therapy group (31.0% vs 62.4%; p<0.001). Rates of hospitalisation were also higher in the standard therapy group (72.5%) compared with the TAVR group (35.0%; p<0.001). However, the rate of stroke was noted to be higher in the TAVR group, due to more ischaemic events in the first 30 days following the procedure and, thereafter, due to the occurrence of more haemorrhagic strokes.