Temporal Cardiorenal Dynamics and Mortality Prediction After TAVR: The Prognostic Value of the 48–72 h BUN/EF Ratio
<b>Background:</b> Renal and cardiac dysfunction are major determinants of adverse outcomes following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). The ratio of blood urea nitrogen to left ventricular ejection fraction (BUN/EF) integrates renal and cardiac status into a single physiological index. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of both baseline and temporal (48-72 h) BUN/EF ratios for predicting mortality after TAVR. <b>Methods:</b> A total of 429 patients (mean age 76 ± 8 years; 51% female) who underwent TAVR for severe aortic stenosis between 2017 and 2025 were retrospectively analyzed. The primary endpoint was long-term all-cause mortality; in-hospital mortality was secondary. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, Cox regression, and reclassification metrics (NRI, IDI) assessed prognostic performance. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis explored non-linear associations. <b>Results:</b> During a median follow-up of 733 days, overall and in-hospital mortality rates were 37.8% and 7.9%, respectively. Both baseline and 48-72 h BUN/EF ratios were independently associated with mortality (HR = 3.46 and 3.79 per 1 SD increase; both <i>p</i> < 0.001). The temporal ratio showed superior discrimination for in-hospital mortality (AUC = 0.826 vs. 0.743, <i>p</i> = 0.007). Adding baseline BUN/EF to EuroSCORE II significantly improved model performance (AUC 0.712 vs. 0.668, <i>p</i> = 0.031; NRI = 0.33; IDI = 0.067). RCS analysis revealed a linear relationship for baseline and a steep, non-linear association for temporal ratios with mortality risk. <b>Conclusions:</b> The 48-72 h BUN/EF ratio is a robust dynamic biomarker that predicts early mortality after TAVR, while baseline BUN/EF identifies patients at long-term risk. Integrating this simple bedside index into risk algorithms may refine postoperative monitoring and improve outcome prediction in TAVR populations.
Authors
- Tuncay Kırış (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9793-718X)
- Aykan Çelik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7261-8668)
- Mustafa Karaca
- Fatma Esin
- Harun Erdem (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6100-4050)
- Semih Babacan
Institutions
- Izmir Kâtip Çelebi University (TR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Clinical Medicine
- Published
- 2026-01-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm15020676
- Primary Topic
- Cardiac Valve Diseases and Treatments
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00