Evaluation of Length of Stay and Predisposing Factors of Late Discharge After Transfemoral Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation Using the SAPIEN-3 Prosthesis: A French Multicenter Prospective Observational Trial

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has been rapidly adopted worldwide since the first-in-man TAVI performed in 2002. With increasing experience and improvements in valve design, the "minimalist" approach to transfemoral TAVI (using local anesthesia and fluoroscopic guidance) has become an attractive concept, and the technical feasibility of this approach has been well documented.

While earlier data showed prolonged length of stay after TF-TAVI [10.5 ± 8.1 days in the FRANCE 2 registry and 10.2 ± 11.1 days in the PARTNER Cohort A data, the UK TAVI registry (reference) showed a decline in post-TAVI length of stay from 10 days to 8 days over the time period of 2007 to 2012. More contemporary data from other centers has been published showing that 23% of TF-TAVI patients were discharged within 3 days after TAVI. With an increasingly minimalist approach to TF-TAVI, the duration of monitoring required post-procedure remains indeterminate with a lack of formal consensus.

Early discharge (within 3 days of TAVI) is hypothesized to have multiple potential advantages, including reduction in unnecessarily lengthy hospitalization of frail and elderly patients in addition to cost-saving benefits. Rouen University Hospital has previously published a retrospective study on the feasibility and safety of early discharge, in which discharge within 72 hours of uncomplicated TF-TAVI was safe and attained in 36% of our patients. Pre-existing pacemaker and the absence of acute kidney injury were independent predictors of a successful early discharge. Moreover, in a prospective study, Rouen University Hospital recently shown that early discharge afterelective TF-TAVI with SAPIEN-XT/SAPIEN-3 prostheses was attainable in a large proportion of patients (59%) with no evident compromise in safety. Factors associated with failure of early discharge were postprocedural blood transfusion and permanent pacemaker implantation. But currently, there are no guidelines for the length of stay after a TF-TAVI.