Aims: To evaluate: 1) the causes of emergency conversion from transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) to surgery, 2) procedural settings, and 3) short-term outcome of converted patients.
Methods and results: The prospective German TAVI registry was used to identify patients who underwent bail-out surgery during TAVI. Additionally, standardised questionnaires were developed and used to assess more detailed periprocedural and postprocedural data. Emergency conversion from TAVI to open cardiac surgery was required in 24 of 1,975 patients (1.2%). Primary conversion causes were aorto-valvular complications (i.e., aortic annulus rupture, aortic perforation, or thoracic aortic dissection). This was followed by prosthesis embolisation, myocardial perforation, severe aortic regurgitation, and coronary obstructions. The mean time interval between abortions of TAVI to surgery was 19 minutes (SD ± 17 min, range 5-80 min). Four of 24 patients (16.7%) died during the initial surgery, seven of 24 (29.2%) within the first 72 hours and the 30-day mortality was 45.8%. The highest mortality was observed in patients with aortic perforation or dissection (4/5, 80%). Mortality rates for other entities were: prosthesis embolisation 40% (2/5), myocardial perforation 50% (2/4), annulus rupture 67% (2/3), severe aortic regurgitation 33% (1/3), and coronary impairment 0% (0/3).
Conclusions: Emergency conversion from TAVI to surgery is a rare event carrying a mortality of around 45% after 30 days. Outcome of converted patients with prior injury of aortic, aorto-valvular, or myocardial tissue during TAVI was poor, whereas patients with severe aortic regurgitation and those with coronary complications had a more favourable outcome after 30 days. Collected procedural and outcome data demand on-site cardiac surgery as a prerequisite for TAVI and constant process optimisation efforts regarding such emergency scenarios.