The respective influences of coronary artery disease (CAD) and revascularization by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on prognosis in patients undergoing Transcatheter aortic-valve replacement (TAVR) remain highly controversial. The residual SYNTAX Score (rSS) has been developed to assess the impact of residual CAD after PCI. Both baseline SYNTAX Score (bSS) and rSS have been associated with dismal prognosis in patients undergoing PCI.

To assess whether the degree of bSS and rSS impact ischemic and bleeding events after TAVR.

Three hundred and eleven patients were admitted for TAVR. Severe CAD was defined by bSS>22. Incomplete revascularization was defined by rSS>8. The primary outcome was the occurrence of a composite endpoint of either cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke or rehospitalization for heart failure (MACE). Secondary endpoints included each primary endpoint individually and the occurrence of late major/life threatening bleeding complications (MLBCs).

After a median follow-up of 830 days, bSS>22 was associated with higher occurrence of MACE (P=0.013). However, bSS>22 and rSS>8 had no impact on overall cardiovascular mortality. By contrast, they were associated with higher rates of periprocedural major bleeding (P=0.002), myocardial infarction (P=0.001) and late occurrence of MLBCs and transfusion rate (P=0.005). Results of multivariate analysis showed that bSS>22 (HR 2.43 95% CI (1.01–5.85); P=0.048) and rSS>8 (HR 2.39 95% CI (1.2–4.7); P=0.013) remained predictors of MLBCs but not of myocardial infarction (Table 1, Fig. 1).

In unselected TAVR patients, initial CAD burden and incomplete coronary revascularization did not impact overall and cardiac mortality but constitute reliable predictors of late MLBCs.