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Objectives: This study was designed to characterize the incidence of new clinically detectable neurologic events, or any comparative change in indices of higher cognitive function following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) within the framework of a prospective, randomized clinical trial for high-risk patients., Methods: High-risk patients (predicted SAVR mortality 15%) with severe aortic stenosis (n = 750) were randomized 1:1 to TAVR or SAVR and underwent evaluation using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and modified Rankin Scale assessment at each follow-up and any suspected event. Neurologic outcomes were ascertained by a neurologist and further evaluated by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), visual fields testing, gait assessment, hand function, writing evaluation, and drawing assessment., Results: The 30-day, 1-year, and 2-year stroke rates were 4.9%, 8.7%, and 10.9%, respectively, for TAVR and 6.2%, 12.5%, and 16.6%, respectively, for SAVR (P = .46, .11, and .05, respectively). All-cause mortality in patients with a major stroke was 83.3% for TAVR and 54.5% for SAVR at 2 years (P = .29). Late major stroke was disproportionately higher (23.8% at 2 years) among patients with poor iliofemoral access randomized to SAVR. Peripheral vascular disease and falls within 6 months predicted early stroke, and severe aortic calcification and high Charlson score (≥5) predicted 1-year stroke post-TAVR. NIHSS and MMSE scores trended higher after SAVR than after TAVR. Lack of dual antiplatelet therapy use during and after TAVR was associated with early stroke., Conclusions: This study defines an equivalent postprocedural stroke risk, stroke extent, and degree of cognitive change after TAVR or SAVR in a high-risk population, and also defines several predictors of stroke after TAVR., (Copyright © 2016 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The CoreValve Extreme Risk US Pivotal Trial enrolled patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis deemed unsuitable for surgical aortic valve replacement. Implants were attempted using transfemoral access (n = 489) or an alternative access (n = 150). In present analysis, we sought to examine the safety and efficacy of CoreValve transcatheter aortic valve replacement using alternative access., Methods: The present study included 150 patients with prohibitive iliofemoral anatomy who were treated with the CoreValve transcatheter heart valve delivered by way of the subclavian artery (n = 70) or a direct aortic approach (n = 80). The echocardiograms were read by an independent core laboratory. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality or major stroke at 12 months., Results: The preoperative aortic valve area was 0.72 ± 0.27 cm(2) and mean aortic valve gradient was 49.5 ± 17.0 mm Hg. After the transcatheter aortic valve replacement, the effective aortic valve area was 1.82 ± 0.64 cm(2) at 1 month and 1.85 ± 0.51 cm(2) at 12 months. The mean aortic valve gradient was 9.7 ± 5.8 mm Hg at 30 days and 9.5 ± 5.7 mm Hg at 12 months. The death or major stroke rate was 15.3% at 30 days and 39.4% at 12 months. The individual rate of all-cause mortality and major stroke was 11.3% and 7.5% at 30 days and 36.0% and 9.1% at 12 months., Conclusions: These data demonstrate that the CoreValve transcatheter heart valve delivered by an alternative access provides a suitable alternative for treatment of extreme risk patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis, who have prohibitive iliofemoral anatomy and no surgical options., (Copyright © 2014 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)