Prognostic staging system correctly identifies high risk groups in cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis treated with tafamidis

Abstract

Background The development of different multiparametric staging systems improved the risk assessment of cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR-CA) patients substantially. However, to date, all staging systems were validated in treatment-naive ATTR-CA patients. The introduction of tafamidis led to significant changes in the disease trajectory of ATTR-CA, indicating that it may also have an impact on the prognostic accuracy of these staging systems. Purpose Thus, we sought to assess whether the prognostic value of the National Amyloidosis Centre (NAC) staging system, currently considered as the most accurate, is sustained in ATTR-CA patients treated with tafamidis. Methods This retrospective observational study included ATTR-CA patients treated with tafamidis. Patients were continuously followed from treatment initiation to time of death. NT-proBNP and eGFR data collected at baseline were used to stratify patients into low (stage I), intermediate (stage II) and high-risk (stage III) subgroups according to the NAC staging system. Kaplan-Meier analyses were conducted to illustrate overall survival. Differences in overall survival between subgroups were assessed by log rank tests. P-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results A total of 166 ATTR-CA patients (95.2% wild-type) were enrolled. 81 (48.8%), 51 (30.7%) and 34 (20.5%) patients were stratified into stages I, II and III, respectively. Median follow-up was 539 [323-865] days, during which 20 deaths were recorded. Overall survival of the subgroups over time is demonstrated in figure 1. The probability of overall survival was significantly lower for patients in stage III compared to patients in stages I (log rank; p=0.002) and II (log rank; p=0.031). However, no differences in the probability of overall survival were identified between patients in stage I and II (log rank; p=0.679). Conclusions In this cohort of ATTR-CA patients treated with tafamidis, the NAC staging system effectively identified patients at elevated risk of mortality. However, the distinction in survival rates between low- and intermediate-risk groups was less pronounced, suggesting that tafamidis may have a stronger prognostic impact in these groups.Overall Survival across NAC Stages