Kolte D, et al. - Using the National Inpatient Sample databases, researchers identified transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures performed between January 2012 and September 2015 in the United States in order to assess temporal trends, predictors, and outcomes of red blood cell (RBC) transfusion in patients undergoing TAVR. During the study period, 46,710 TAVR procedures were performed. RBC transfusion was done in 17.3% of these. They noted a significant decrease in RBC transfusion rates from 29.5% during the first quarter of 2012 to 10.8% during the third quarter of 2015. TAVR patients without bleeding, but not those with overt bleeding, displayed worse clinical outcomes in correlation to RBC transfusion. Increased odds of RBC transfusion were observed in correlation to older age, female sex, peripheral vascular disease, chronic kidney disease, anemia, coagulopathy, and fluid/electrolyte disorders, whereas decreased odds were noted in correlation to elective admission, obesity, and endovascular access. Increased risk of in-hospital mortality, infection, and transient ischemic attack/stroke in patients without bleeding in correlation to RBC transfusion were noted in the propensity-matched cohort (7995 pairs with and without RBC transfusion).