Heart health
PROGRESS trial finds earlier TAVR benefits selected patients with moderate aortic stenosis
At two years, death or a heart failure event occurred in 16.7% of TAVR patients and 23.9% of patients under clinical surveillance.
The PROGRESS trial found that earlier transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) reduced the incidence of death or a heart failure event among patients with moderate aortic stenosis and at least one at-risk feature, compared with clinical surveillance. The findings were presented at TCT 2026 and published in NEJM.
Researchers randomized 744 patients at 74 centers to TAVR or clinical surveillance. At two years, 16.7% of patients in the TAVR group and 23.9% in the surveillance group had died or experienced a heart failure event. Heart failure hospitalization occurred in 7.4% of TAVR patients and 14.9% of surveillance patients. The report said quality of life also improved more in the TAVR group.
During two years of follow-up, 204 patients in the surveillance group underwent delayed valve replacement, and about 80% had progressed to severe aortic stenosis. An accompanying editorial said TAVR is not appropriate for most adults with moderate aortic stenosis, but may be considered for selected older patients with coexisting conditions at high risk of adverse outcomes when other approaches are not effective.
