Background This study sought to investigate the role of postprocedural troponin elevations in mortality prediction after transcatheter aortic valve implantation and to define the threshold at which clinically relevant postprocedure myocardial injury determines mortality. Methods and Results A total of 1333 consecutive patients with transcatheter aortic valve implantation with available postprocedural high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T measurements were included in the analysis. The threshold at which postprocedure myocardial injury determines long-term mortality was identified using restricted cubic spline analysis. A >18.3-fold increase of troponin above the upper reference limit was identified as threshold for relevant postprocedure myocardial injury. Associations remained significant in a landmark analysis between 30 days and 2 years (hazard ratio [HR], 1.61, [95% CI, 1.13-2.28]; P=0.01), after adjusting for known confounders (adjusted HR, 1.90 [95% CI, 1.40-2.57]; P<0001), and in subgroups of patients with coronary artery disease (adjusted HR, 2.17 [95% CI, 1.44-3.29]; P<0.001), renal dysfunction (adjusted HR, 1.88 [95% CI, 1.35-2.62]; P<0.001), and intermediate/high surgical risk (adjusted HR, 2.70 [95% CI, 1.40-5.22]; P=0.003). Conclusions This study determined a troponin threshold for the identification of patients at increased mortality risk after transcatheter aortic valve implantation. The proposed definition of postprocedure myocardial injury advances risk stratification in patients with transcatheter aortic valve implantation and may assist in postprocedural patient management.
Keywords: aortic stenosis; myocardial infarction; risk stratification; transcatheter aortic valve implantation.