Impact of renin-angiotensin system inhibitors on outcomes after surgical or transcatheter aortic valve replacement. A meta-analysis

Introduction and objectives: To determine whether renin-angiotensin system inhibitor (RASi) prescription is associated with better outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). Methods: All comparative studies of RASi vs no RASi prescription in patients undergoing TAVI/SAVR were gathered from PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar through August, 2019. We extracted hazard ratios (HRs) with their confidence intervals (CIs) for mortality from each study and combined study-specific estimates using inverse variance-weighted averages of logarithmic HRs in the random effects model. Results: We identified 6 eligible studies with a total of 21 390 patients (TAVI: 17 846; SAVR: 3544) and included them in the present meta-analysis. The 6 studies were observational comparative studies (including 3 propensity score matched and 3 cohort studies) of RASi vs no RASi prescription. The analysis demonstrated that RASi prescription was associated with significantly lower mortality in the whole group of patients undergoing aortic valve intervention (HR, 0.64; 95%CI, 0.47-0.88; P<.001). However, subgroup analysis suggested differences according to the selected therapy, with TAVI showing better mortality rates in the RASi group (HR, 0.67; 95%CI, 0.49-0.93) but not in the SAVR group (HR, 0.61; 95%CI, 0.29-1.30). No funnel plot asymmetry was identified, suggesting minimum publication bias. Sensitivity analyses sequentially eliminating dissimilar studies did not substantially alter the primary result favoring RASI prescription. Conclusions: These findings suggest a mortality benefit of RASi in patients with AS treated with aortic valve replacement that might be particularly relevant following TAVI. Future randomized studies are warranted to confirm this relevant finding. (C) 2020 Sociedad Espanola de Cardiologia. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. All rights reserved.