BACKGROPUND AND AIM: Postoperative thrombocytopenia after surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) or transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and aggravating causes were the aim of this retrospective study.
METHODS: Data of all patients treated with SAVR (n = 1068) and TAVR (n = 816) due to severe aortic valve stenosis was collected at our center from 2010 to 2017. Preprocedural and postprocedural values were collected from electronic patient records.
RESULTS: There was a significant drop in platelets in both groups, the TAVR group showed overall superior platelet preservation compared to the AVR group (P < .001). In the SAVR subgroup analysis, a significant difference in platelet preservation was observed between the valve types (P < .001), particularly with the Freedom SOLO valve. In the TAVR subgroup analysis, the valve type did not influence platelet count (PLT) reduction (P = .13). In the SAVR subgroup analyses, PLT was found to be worsened with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) duration.
CONCLUSION: Thrombocytopenia frequently occurs after implantation of a biological heart valve prosthesis, with a higher frequency observed in patients after cardiac surgery rather than TAVR. Although some surgical bioprosthetic models are more susceptible to this phenomenon, CPB duration seems to be a major determinant for the development of postoperative thrombocytopenia.