Abstract
Aortic stenosis (AS) is the most common valvular disease in developed countries. Specific timing of intervention for asymptomatic patients with severe aortic stenosis and preserved ejection fraction remains controversial. To compare the outcomes of early aortic valve replacement (AVR) versus watchful waiting (WW) in asymptomatic AS patients with preserved ejection. We systematically searched PubMed, Embase and Cochrane databases, in November 2021, for both interventional or observational studies comparing early-AVR with WW in the treatment of asymptomatic severeAS with preserved ejection fraction criteria. Random-effects meta-analysis was performed. Eight studies were included in which two were randomized clinical trials. A total of 2672 patients were included, providing a 642 pooled death events (327 in early-AVR and 941 in watchful waiting). In our meta-analysis, early-AVR revealed a significant lower all-cause mortality (pooled OR, 0.39; 95% CI [0.30, 0.51], P2=47%). Additionally, the early-AVR group presented a lower rate of cardiovascular mortality (pooled OR, 0.33; 95% CI [0.19, 0.56], P2=64%). Both strategies had similar rate of stroke (pooled OR, 1.30; 95% CI [0.39, 4.27], P=0.67; I2=0%) and myocardial infarction (pooled OR, 0.49; 95% CI [0.14, 1.78], P=0.28; I2=0%). Heart Failure hospitalizations presented a lower trend early-AVR group (pooled OR, 0.22; 95% CI [0.05, 1.08], P=0.36; I2=36%). Our pooled data suggests that early-AVR strategy is preferable for asymptomatic severe AS patients with preserved ejection fraction. Type of funding sources: None. Figure 1