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Objectives: Despite evidence, frailty is not routinely assessed before cardiac surgery. We compared five brief frailty tests for predicting poor outcomes after aortic valve replacement and evaluated a strategy of performing comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) in screen‐positive patients. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: A single academic center. Participants: Patients undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) (n = 91; mean age = 77.8 y) or transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) (n = 137; mean age = 84.5 y) from February 2014 to June 2017. Measurements: Brief frailty tests (Fatigue, Resistance, Ambulation, Illness, and Loss of weight [FRAIL] scale; Clinical Frailty Scale; grip strength; gait speed; and chair rise) and a deficit‐accumulation frailty index based on CGA (CGA‐FI) were measured at baseline. A composite of death or functional decline and severe symptoms at 6 months was assessed. Results: The outcome occurred in 8.8% (n = 8) after SAVR and 24.8% (n = 34) after TAVR. The chair rise test showed the highest discrimination in the SAVR (C statistic =.76) and TAVR cohorts (C statistic =.63). When the chair rise test was chosen as a screening test (≥17 s for SAVR and ≥23 s for TAVR), the incidence of outcome for screen‐negative patients, screen‐positive patients with CGA‐FI of.34 or lower, and screen‐positive patients with CGA‐FI higher than.34 were 1.9% (n = 1/54), 5.3% (n = 1/19), and 33.3% (n = 6/18) after SAVR, respectively, and 15.0% (n = 9/60), 14.3% (n = 3/21), and 38.3% (n = 22/56) after TAVR, respectively. Compared with routinely performing CGA, targeting CGA to screen‐positive patients would result in 54 fewer CGAs, without compromising sensitivity (routine vs targeted:.75 vs.75; P = 1.00) and specificity (.84 vs.86; P = 1.00) in the SAVR cohort; and 60 fewer CGAs with lower sensitivity (.82 vs.65; P =.03) and higher specificity (.50 vs.67; P < .01) in the TAVR cohort. Conclusions: The chair rise test with targeted CGA may be a practical strategy to identify older patients at high risk for mortality and poor recovery after SAVR and TAVR in whom individualized care management should be considered. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:2031–2037, 2019 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) may be associated with less delirium and allow faster recovery than surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). Objective: To examine the association of delirium and its severity with clinical and functional outcomes after SAVR and TAVR. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: An academic medical center. Participants: A total of 187 patients, aged 70 years and older, undergoing SAVR (N = 77) and TAVR (N = 110) in 2014 to 2016. Measurements: Delirium was assessed daily using the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM), with severity measured by the CAM‐Severity (CAM‐S) score (range = 0‐19). Outcomes were prolonged hospitalization (9 days or more); institutional discharge; and functional status, measured by ability to perform 22 daily activities and physical tasks over 12 months. Results: SAVR patients had a higher incidence of delirium than TAVR patients (50.7% vs 25.5%; P < .001), despite younger mean age (77.9 vs 83.7 years) and higher baseline Mini‐Mental State Examination score (26.9 vs 24.7). SAVR patients with delirium had a shorter duration (2.2 vs 3.4 days; P = .04) with a lower mean CAM‐S score (4.5 vs 5.7; P = .01) than TAVR patients with delirium. The risk of prolonged hospitalization in no, mild, and severe delirium was 18.4%, 30.8%, and 61.5% after SAVR (P for trend = .009) and 26.8%, 38.5%, and 73.3% after TAVR (P for trend = .001), respectively. The risk of institutional discharge was 42.1%, 58.3%, and 84.6% after SAVR (P for trend = .01) and 32.5%, 69.2%, and 80.0% after TAVR (P for trend <.001), respectively. Severe delirium was associated with delayed functional recovery after SAVR and persistent functional impairment after TAVR at 12 months. Conclusion: Less invasive TAVR was associated with lower incidence of delirium than SAVR. Once delirium developed, TAVR patients had more severe delirium and worse functional status trajectory than SAVR patients did. Registration: NCT01845207. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cognitive impairment and frailty are highly prevalent in older adults undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement. This study aimed to investigate the relationship of cognitive impairment and frailty with functional recovery after transcatheter aortic valve replacement.Methods: This was a single-center prospective cohort study of 142 patients who were ≥70 years old and underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement for aortic stenosis. Prior to transcatheter aortic valve replacement, cognitive impairment was defined as Mini-Mental State Examination score <24 points (range: 0-30), and moderate-to-severe frailty was defined as a deficit-accumulation frailty index ≥0.35 (range: 0-1). The functional status composite score, the number of 22 daily and physical tasks that a patient could perform independently, measured at baseline and 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months postoperatively were analyzed using linear mixed-effects model.Results: The mean age was 84.2 years; 74 subjects were women (51.8%). Patients with moderate-to-severe frailty and cognitive impairment (n = 27, 19.0%) had the lowest functional status at baseline and throughout 12 months, while patients with mild or no frailty and no cognitive impairment (n = 48, 33.8%) had the best functional status. Patients with cognitive impairment alone (n = 19, 13.4%) had better functional status at baseline than those with moderate-to-severe frailty alone (n = 48, 33.8%), but their functional status scores merged and remained similar during the follow-up.Conclusions: Preoperative cognitive function plays a vital role in functional recovery after transcatheter aortic valve replacement, regardless of baseline frailty status. Impaired cognition may increase functional decline in the absence of frailty, whereas intact cognition may mitigate the detrimental effects of frailty. Cognitive assessment should be routinely performed prior to transcatheter aortic valve replacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]