Late-breaking study establishes new risk model for surgery after TAVR
2026-01-29
(Press-News.org) NEW ORLEANS — January 29, 2026 — At the 2026 Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Annual Meeting, investigators will present a late-breaking study focused on surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) following prior transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), a clinical scenario increasingly encountered as TAVR use expands. The analysis draws on data from the STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database to characterize risk over time and to validate a dedicated STS risk model designed to support decision-making for patients requiring surgery after TAVR.
The study, to be presented by Robert Hawkins, MD, of University of Michigan Health, examined outcomes from more than 5,700 patients who underwent SAVR after TAVR between 2014 and 2025. Results demonstrate that operative mortality for isolated SAVR after TAVR has declined substantially over time, while the newly developed risk model showed excellent accuracy for all patients and surgical procedures. These findings provide important real-world evidence that complement prior reports and reflect improvements in timeliness of referrals, patient selection, surgical technique, and perioperative care. Further, there is now a large portion of TAVR explant cases that can be defined as low surgical risk with outcomes that compare very favorably to the valve-in-valve TAVR literature.
“Use of TAVR is increasing rapidly and expanding into younger and healthier patients,” says Dr. Hawkins. “We have shown that surgically removing TAVR valves carries a higher risk than a first-time surgical AVR. This study shows that surgeons are improving with experience, that the risk of TAVR explant is decreasing, and that we can now predict—with very good accuracy—the risk of surgical TAVR explant for individual patients.”
The STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database continues to serve as a cornerstone for advancing evidence-based cardiac surgery. This latest study builds on that foundation by introducing a validated, procedure-specific risk model that enables more accurate risk estimation, supports shared decision-making, and helps refine treatment strategies for a growing and complex patient population.
About The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons is a not-for-profit organization representing more than 8,000 surgeons, researchers, and allied healthcare professionals worldwide who are committed to improving outcomes for patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery.
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[Press-News.org] Late-breaking study establishes new risk model for surgery after TAVR
