Only 61% of patients with aortic stenosis had a timely diagnosis, according to the recent Vanderbilt Health study.
The study, published in Circulation, analyzed data from patients with moderate or severe aortic stenosis from 58 sites in the Target: AS registry between 2023 and 2024
The new multicenter American Heart Association Target: AS registry, led in part by a Nashville-based Vanderbilt Health researcher and the AHA, is the first national registry to track data and evaluate the quality of upstream care processes before valve replacement for patients with aortic stenosis, according to a July 20 health system article. Previously, registries focused on peri- and postprocedural outcomes. The registry plans to expand to 200 sites in the next five years. Aortic stenosis is the most common type of heart valve disease and affects over 2.5 million people in the U.S.
Here are four study findings.
1. There was a 7% increase in timely diagnosis between 2023 and 2024; however, the greatest gaps were found in lack of timely symptom assessment, lack of stroke volume index and lack of timely multimodality testing.
2. About 85% of patients received an aortic valve replacement within 90 days after receiving a Class I indication in 2024, up from 82% of patients in 2023.
3. Researchers also found gaps for how many patients who underwent AVR were seen by a multidisciplinary heart valve team — with 84% of patients seeing multidisciplinary teams in 2024.
4. In echocardiograms, 85% of patients in 2024 had key findings documented in their echocardiogram reports, but a clinical recommendation was included less than 10% of the time. Timely follow-up surveillance echocardiograms were missed about 40% of the time.
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