The following is the summary of “Association Between Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and All-Cause Mortality After Aortic Valve Replacement for Aortic Stenosis” published in the March 2023 issue of Cardiovascular Disease by Myagmardorj, et al.

Aortic stenosis (AS) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are the 2 most frequent age-related disorders that have a negative impact on prognosis when they occur together. The research aimed to examine whether or not pulmonary functional measures were linked to an increased risk of death after aortic valve replacement (transcatheter or surgical). A pulmonary functional test was performed on 400 individuals with severe AS before surgery. In addition, before undergoing aortic valve replacement, patients underwent echocardiography and gathered pulmonary functional data. 

The severity of COPD was determined using the standards established by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. About 128 patients (32%) with severe AS also had COPD. Patients who did not suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) showed improved left ventricular (LV) mass and LV end-systolic volume, and LV function. A total of 92 patients (23%) passed away throughout the median 32-month follow-up. Patients with moderate and severe COPD had significantly reduced survival rates (log-rank P=0.003). 

In the multivariable Cox regression analysis, the risk of death from any cause was increased by about 2 times for those with any degree of COPD (hazard ratio 1.933; 95% CI 1.166 to 3.204; P=0.011 for mild COPD and hazard ratio 2.028; 95% CI 1.154 to 3.564; P=0.014 for moderate or severe COPD). Any stage of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was linked to a doubling of the chance of death from any cause, independent of other clinical variables.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002914922011894