Background Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is increasingly offered for aortic stenosis (AS) treatment in patients with a history of cancer. The impact of frailty on outcomes in this specific patient population is not well described. Hypothesis Frailty is associated with mortality and poorer quality of life (QOL) outcomes in patients undergoing TAVR with a history of cancer. Methods This retrospective single center cohort study included AS patients who underwent TAVR from August 1, 2012 to May 15, 2020. Frailty was measured using serum albumin, hemoglobin, gait speed, functional dependence, and cognitive impairment. The primary outcome was a composite of all‐cause mortality and QOL at 1 year. A poor primary outcome was defined as either all‐cause mortality, Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire overall summary (KCCQ‐OS) score <45 or a KCCQ‐OS score decline of ≥10 points from baseline. Regression analysis was used to determine the impact of frailty on the primary outcome. Results The study population was stratified into active/recent cancer ( n = 107), remote cancer ( n = 85), and non‐cancer ( n = 448). Univariate analysis of each cohort showed that frailty was associated with the primary outcome only in the non‐cancer cohort ( p = .004). Multivariate analysis showed that cancer history was not associated with a poor primary outcome, whereas frailty was (1.7 odds ratio, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1–2.8; p = .028). Conclusions Frailty is associated with mortality and poor QOL in the overall and non‐cancer cohorts. Further investigation is warranted to understand frailty's effect on the cancer population. Frailty should be heavily considered during TAVR evaluation.

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Background Aortic valve replacement improves survival for patients with low-gradient aortic valve stenosis, but there is a paucity of data on postoperative quality of life for this population. Methods In a single-center retrospective analysis of 304 patients with severe aortic valve stenosis who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement, patients were divided into 4 groups based on mean pressure gradient, left ventricular ejection fraction, and stroke volume index. Using the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire-12, quality of life was assessed immediately before and 1 month after transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Results Most patients in the low-flow, low-gradient group were men; this group had higher relative rates of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes than the paradoxical low-flow, low-gradient group; the normal-flow, low-gradient group; and the high-gradient group. All-cause mortality did not differ significantly among the groups at 1 month after surgery, and all groups experienced a significant improvement in quality-of-life scores after surgery. The mean improvement was 27 points in the low-flow, low-gradient group, 25 points in the paradoxical low-flow, low-gradient group, 30 points in the normal-flow, low-gradient group, and 30 points in the high-gradient group (all P &lt; .001). Conclusion Quality of life improves significantly across all subgroups of aortic valve stenosis after trans-catheter aortic valve replacement, regardless of flow characteristics or aortic valve gradients.

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