Renin-angiotensin system inhibition is not associated with increased sudden cardiac death, cardiovascular mortality or all-cause mortality in patients with aortic stenosis

Background: Renin-angiotensin system inhibition (RASI) is frequently avoided in aortic stenosis (AS) patients because of fear of hypotension. We evaluated if RASI with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) increased mortality in patients with mild to moderate AS. Methods: All patients (n = 1873) from the Simvastatin and Ezetimibe in Aortic Stenosis study: asymptomatic patients with AS and preserved left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction were included. Risks of sudden cardiac death (SCD), cardiovascular death and all-cause mortality according to RASI treatment were analyzed by multivariable time-varying Cox models and propensity score matched analyses. Results: 769 (41%) patients received RASI. During a median follow-up of 4.3 +/- 0.9 years, 678 patients were categorized as having severe AS, 545 underwent aortic valve replacement, 40 SCDs, 103 cardiovascular and 205 all-cause deaths occurred. RASI was not associated with SCD (HR: 1.19 [95% CI: 0.50-2.83], p = 0.694), cardiovascular (HR: 1.05 [95% CI: 0.62-1.77], p = 0.854) or all-cause mortality (HR: 0.81 [95% CI: 0.55-1.20], p = 0.281). This was confirmed in propensity matched analysis (all p > 0.05). In separate analyses, RASI was associated with larger reduction in systolic blood pressure (p = 0.001) and less progression of LV mass (p = 0.040). Conclusions: RASI was not associated with SCD, cardiovascular or all-cause mortality in asymptomatic AS patients. However, RASI was associated with a potentially beneficial decrease in blood pressure and reduced LV mass progression. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.