Lederman RJ, Babaliaros VC, Lisko JC, Rogers T, Mahoney P, Foerst JR, Depta JP, Muhammad KI, McCabe JM, Pop A, Khan JM, Bruce CG, Medranda GA, Wei JW, Binongo JN, and Greenbaum AB
Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare transcaval and transaxillary artery access for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) at experienced medical centers in contemporary practice., Background: There are no systematic comparisons of transcaval and transaxillary TAVR access routes., Methods: Eight experienced centers contributed local data collected for the STS/ACC TVT Registry (Society of Thoracic Surgeons/American College of Cardiology Transcatheter Valve Therapy Registry) between 2017 and 2020. Outcomes after transcaval and axillary/subclavian (transaxillary) access were adjusted for baseline imbalances using doubly robust (inverse propensity weighting plus regression) estimation and compared., Results: Transcaval access was used in 238 procedures and transaxillary access in 106; for comparison, transfemoral access was used in 7,132 procedures. Risk profiles were higher among patients selected for nonfemoral access but similar among patients requiring transcaval and transaxillary access. Stroke and transient ischemic attack were 5-fold less common after transcaval than transaxillary access (2.5% vs 13.2%; OR: 0.20; 95% CI: 0.06-0.72; P = 0.014) compared with transfemoral access (1.7%). Major and life-threatening bleeding (Valve Academic Research Consortium 3 ≥ type 2) were comparable (10.0% vs 13.2%; OR: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.26-1.66; P = 0.38) compared with transfemoral access (3.5%), as was blood transfusion (19.3% vs 21.7%; OR: 1.07; 95% CI: 0.49-2.33; P = 0.87) compared with transfemoral access (7.1%). Vascular complications, intensive care unit and hospital length of stay, and survival were similar between transcaval and transaxillary access. More patients were discharged directly home and without stroke or transient ischemic attack after transcaval than transaxillary access (87.8% vs 62.3%; OR: 5.19; 95% CI: 2.45-11.0; P < 0.001) compared with transfemoral access (90.3%)., Conclusions: Patients undergoing transcaval TAVR had lower rates of stroke and similar bleeding compared with transaxillary access in a contemporary experience from 8 US centers. Both approaches had more complications than transfemoral access. Transcaval TAVR access may offer an attractive option., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures This work was supported by the Emory Structural Heart and Valve program intramural funds, and by National Institutes of Health Z01-HL006040. Drs Babaliaros and Greenbaum have served as consultants for Edwards Lifesciences and Abbott Vascular; have an employer with research contracts for clinical investigation of transcatheter aortic, mitral, and tricuspid devices from Edwards Lifesciences, Abbott Vascular, Medtronic, and Boston Scientific; and own equity interest in Transmural Systems. Drs Lederman and Rogers are coinventors on device patents, assigned to the National Institutes of Health, for closure of transcaval access ports. Dr Rogers has served as consultant and physician proctor for Edwards Lifesciences and Medtronic; has been on the advisory board for Medtronic; and has equity interest in Transmural Systems. Dr Mahoney has served as a proctor and consultant and has received institutional research support from Edwards Lifesciences, Medtronic, and Abbott. Dr Foerst has served as a proctor for Edwards Lifesciences and Medtronic. Dr Depta has served as a consultant or advisory board member for Edwards Lifesciences, Boston Scientific, Abbott, V-Wave-Ltd, and WL Gore & Associates. Dr Muhammad has served as a proctor and consultant for Edwards Lifesciences and Medtronic. Dr McCabe has served as a consultant and has received honoraria from Boston Scientific, Cardiovascular Systems Inc, Edwards Lifesciences, and Medtronic. Dr Pop is a consultant for Edwards Lifesciences and Shockwave Medical. Dr Khan has served as a proctor for Edwards Lifesciences and Medtronic. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)