Open AccessUrea level is an independent predictor of mortality in patients with severe aortic valve stenosis
Author(s) -
Dan Haberman,
Gil Chernin,
Valery Meledin,
Meital Zikry,
Mony Shuvy,
Gera Gandelman,
Sorel Goland,
Jacob George,
Sara Shimoni
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0230002
Subject(s) - medicine , creatinine , valvular heart disease , cardiology , univariate analysis , population , aortic valve stenosis , aortic valve , stenosis , multivariate analysis , environmental health
Introduction Severe aortic stenosis (AS) is the most common valvular heart disease in the western world. Various factors are related to severe AS prognosis, including chronic kidney disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of urea level in patients with severe AS. Methods We prospectively enrolled 142 patients (79.1±9.4 years, 88 women) with severe AS (mean valve area 0.67± 0.17 cm 2 ). Clinical assessment, blood tests and echocardiography were performed at enrollment and follow up. The patient population was divided into low and high urea level groups, according to the median urea level at enrollment (72 patients, mean urea 35.5±6.2 mg/dL and 70 patients, mean urea 61.1±17.8 mg/dL, respectively). Hundred and twelve patients (79%) underwent aortic valve intervention. The primary endpoint was all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Outcomes During follow-up of 37±19.5 months, 56 (37.1%) patients died, 39 due to cardiovascular causes. In univariate analysis, age, urea level, creatinine, New York Heart Association (NYHA) class and aortic valve intervention were associated with all-cause mortality. However, in multivariate analysis only aortic valve intervention and blood urea were independent predictors of all-cause mortality (HR 0.494; 95% CI 0.226–0.918, P = 0.026 and HR 1.015; 95% CI 1.003–1.029, P = 0.046 respectively). Urea level, NYHA class and age were also significant predictors of cardiovascular mortality. Whereas, in multivariate analysis, only urea level predicted cardiovascular mortality in these patients (HR 1.017; CI 1.003–1.031 P = 0.019). Conclusions Blood urea, a generally readily available and routinely determined marker of renal function, is an independent prognostic factor in patients with severe AS.