This study investigated the prognostic value of
UAR for mortality in TAVI patients. The results
showed the in-hospital mortality rate to be 6.7% and
the postdischarge all-cause mortality to be 17.1%.
Although the predictive power of UAR for mortality
was poor in the receiver operating characteristic
analysis, a UAR above the cutoff value of 2.03 was an
independent predictor of increased risk of mortality
following TAVI. A decreased platelet count was also
an independent predictor of mortality.
In a study in 2016, Gaede et al.[22] evaluated the
results of 15,050 patients who had undergone TAVI
and reported an in-hospital mortality rate of 2.6% and
a permanent pacemaker implantation rate of 11.4%.
Additionally, in this study, a cerebrovascular event
was observed in 2.2%, vascular complications in 7.1%,
myocardial infarction in 0.2%, and acute renal damage
in 3%. Compared to the results of the current study,
the lower rates of vascular complications, in-hospital
mortality, and acute renal damage can be considered to
be due to a difference in the experience of the operators
and different study populations. In a 2013 study by
Finkelstein et al.,[23] the outcomes of 300 TAVI patients
were reported and in-hospital mortality, stroke, minor
vascular complication, and permanent peacemaker
implantation rates were 2.3%, 1.6%, 10.7%, and 22%,
respectively. Although the in-hospital mortality rate
was low compared to the rate in the current study,
the high rate of permanent pacemaker implantation
could have been due to the use of older generation
bioprosthetic valves. Gleason et al.[3] evaluated patients
implanted with a self-expandable valve, and found the
five-year mortality rate after TAVI to be 55.3%. The
significantly higher mortality could be attributed to
the difference in the study populations and the shorter
follow-up period in that study.
The current study results showed a low platelet count
to be an independent predictor of mortality following
TAVI. In parallel to the current study results, Kalińczuk
et al.[24] also reported that a reduced platelet count after
TAVI was associated with increased mortality. In
another study, the development of thrombocytopenia
after TAVI was found to be a predictor of 30-day mortality, and platelet count before the TAVI was
the only predictor of thrombocytopenia.[25] Similarly,
it can be considered that a lower thrombocyte count
in the current study may have increased the risk of
thrombocytopenia development after TAVI. However,
there is a need for further studies on this subject.
In a previous meta-analysis, the baseline albumin
level was found to be an independent predictor
of 30-day and one-year mortality after TAVI.[4]
This finding is compatible with the finding of the
current study that the albumin level was significantly
lower in the mortality group. The mounting
evidence indicating that low albumin level is related
to endothelial dysfunction, subclinical systemic
inflammation, and renal and liver dysfunction could
explain the increased mortality in TAVI patients.
Moreover, a decreased albumin level causes decreased
intravascular osmotic colloidal pressure, which may
accelerate the development of acute renal damage,
pulmonary edema, or decompensated heart failure in
TAVI patients.[5,26,27]
In a study by Sokmen et al.,[1] although the baseline
uric acid level was significantly higher in patients
who deceased after TAVI, it was not found to be
an independent predictor of mortality. It has been
previously stated that a high uric acid level is associated
with increased inflammation, renin-angiotensin
aldosterone activation, endothelial dysfunction, and
aorta dilatation.[13,14,28]
To minimize the effect of the confounding factors
on uric acid and albumin levels, these two markers
were combined in the current study. Evidence related
to the prognostic importance of uric acid and albumin
levels may explain why the ratio of these two markers
is a predictor of mortality following TAVI.
This study has several limitations. This study
was retrospective in design, was conducted in only
two centers, and the number of patients included
was relatively limited. The scores other than the
logistic EuroSCORE were not evaluated. Only four
types of bioprosthetic valves were preferred so there
was no experience with other bioprosthetic valves
(e.g., Myval). When evaluating UAR and platelet
count, only preprocedural blood results were used.
Therefore, the effects of change in UAR and platelet
count could not be investigated.
In conclusion, UAR, an easy-to-obtain and practical
marker, was found to be an independent predictor of mortality after TAVI. Therefore, it would be
appropriate to investigate the value of this marker with
more evidence-based research methods to determine
the risk of death in TAVI patients.
Ethics Committee Approval: The study protocol was
approved by the University of Health Sciences, Bursa Yüksek
Ihtisas Training and Research Hospital Ethics Committee
(date: 02.11.2022, no: 2011-KAEK-25 2022/11-15). The
study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the
Declaration of Helsinki.
Patient Consent for Publication: A written informed
consent was obtained from each patient.
Data Sharing Statement: The data that support the
findings of this study are available from the corresponding
author upon reasonable request.
Author Contributions: Idea/concept, design, data
collection and processing, analysis and interpretation, writing
the article, materials: F.L.; Idea/concept, control /supervision,
data collection and processing, literature review, writing the
article, critical review, references and fundings: İ.G.; Design,
writing the article, materials: F.K.; Control/supervision,
literature review, references and fundings: O.Ş.; Analysis and
interpretation, critical review; S.A.S.
Conflict of Interest: The authors declared no conflicts
of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication
of this article.
Funding: The authors received no financial support for
the research and/or authorship of this article.