Abstract 15690: The Impact of Frailty on 6-12 Months Adverse Outcomes Following Left Atrial Appendage Closure

Introduction: Frailty is a syndrome of functional decline characterized by an increased risk for adverse health outcomes. The association between frailty and left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) outcomes has not been extensively studied yet. This study aims to analyze the impact of frailty on adverse health outcomes following LAAC.

Method: Retrospective review of electronic medical records from June 2016 to December 2021 at the University of Illinois, Chicago identified LAAC patients, who were included if they were followed-up within 6 and 12 months of the procedure. Patients were stratified into frail and non-frail groups based on the Johns Hopkins Claims-based Frailty Indicator, an externally validated index. Outcomes included 6- and 12-months major bleeding event defined by VARC, death, and hospitalization indexes. Two-sample t-tests and chi-squared tests were used to compare continuous and categorical variables, respectively.

Results: Our cohort included 101 patients (age 72 ± 9 years, 75% male, 24% white): frail (N=34) and non-frail (N=67) groups. There were no statistically significant differences in baseline demographics, comorbidities, and medication except for older age in frail patients (79.6 vs 68.3 years, p=0.000). Although frail patients had higher mortality rate at 6 months (8.82% vs 0%, p=0.014), no differences were seen for nonhome discharges (6.67% vs 1.54%, p=0.184), 6-months major bleeding events (2.94% vs 2.99%, p=0.990), 6-month emergency department visits (38.2% vs 28.4%, p=0.313), and 6-month hospital admission (20.6% vs 25.4%, p=0.593). There were also no differences seen for mortality rate at 12 months (11.8% vs 5.97%, p=0.308), length of hospital stays (1.35 vs 1.37 days, p=0.966), 12-months major bleeding event (2.94% vs 4.48%, p=0.708), and 12-months hospital admission (29.4% vs 31.3%, p=0.842).

Conclusion: Our results suggest that frail patients are at a higher risk for death within 6 months following LAAC despite no observable differences in comorbidities, medications, other adverse events, and hospitalization indexes, including nonhome discharges. Additional analysis is needed to determine factors that may preclude frail patients from hospital admissions or precipitate earlier death.