The Utility of Psoas Muscle Assessment in Predicting Frailty in Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

Abstract

Background. The rise in an ageing population has resulted in an increase in the prevalence of aortic stenosis. With the advent and rapid expansion in the use of transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVRs), patients with severe aortic stenosis, traditionally thought too high risk for surgical intervention, are now being treated with generally favourable results. Frailty is an important factor in determining outcome after a TAVR, and an assessment of frailty is fundamental in the identification of appropriate patients to treat. Objective. The objective of the study was to identify if the psoas muscle area is associated with frailty in TAVR patients and outcome after intervention. Method. In this prospective study, we measured outcomes of 62 patients who underwent TAVR procedures against the psoas muscle area and the Reported Edmonton Frail Scale (REFS). Our aim was to assess if psoas muscle assessment can be used as a simple method to predict frailty in our population group. Results. A total of 60 patients met the study criteria. Mean psoas-lumbar vertebral index was 0.61, with a lower value in the frail group. There was not a statistically significant correlation between the psoas measures, REFS score (indicative of frailty), and mortality. However, there was a statistically significant relationship between the psoas size and REFS score (p=0.043). Conclusion. Psoas assessment can be useful in providing additional information when planning for patients to undergo a TAVR and can be used as a screening tool to help identify frail patients within this high-risk group.