Five-Year Outcomes with Self-expanding versus Balloon-expandable TAVI in Patients with Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction.

Background: The importance of transcatheter heart valve (THV) design on clinical outcome in patients with aortic stenosis (AS) and left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction remains unknown.

Objectives: We aimed to compare 5-year outcomes of patients with severe AS and reduced LV ejection fraction (LVEF), undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) with balloon-expandable vs. self-expanding THVs.

Methods: In a retrospective analysis from the Bern TAVI registry, patients with LVEF <50% who underwent TAVI with either balloon-expandable or self-expanding THVs were included. A 1:1 propensity-score matching was performed to account for baseline differences between groups.

Results: A total of 759 patients were included between August 2007 and December 2022, and propensity-score matching resulted in 134 pairs. Technical success was achieved in over 85% of patients, and was similar in both groups. Self-expanding THVs were associated with a lower mean transvalvular gradient (7.1 ± 3.7 mmHg vs. 9.9 ± 4.3 mmHg; P <0.001) and a higher incidence of ≥mild-to-moderate paravalvular regurgitation (36.3% vs. 11.3%; P <0.001) compared to balloon-expandable THVs. At 5 years, patients treated with a self-expanding THV had higher all-cause mortality than those with a balloon-expandable THV (67.8% vs. 55.8%, HR_adjusted: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.02-2.03; P = 0.037). There were no significant differences in other clinical outcomes up to 5 years between groups.

Conclusions: In the setting of LV systolic dysfunction, patients treated with a self-expanding THV had higher risk of 5-year mortality compared to patients treated with a balloon-expandable THV.

Clinical trial registration: https://www.

Clinicaltrials: gov. NCT01368250.