Antegrade Conduction Rescues Right Ventricular Pacing-Induced Cardiomyopathy in Complete Heart Block

Right ventricular (RV) pacing-induced cardiomyopathy (PICM) occurs in ∼30% of patients with RV leads. This study evaluated the long-term effects of restoring antegrade conduction with a biological pacemaker in a porcine model of RV PICM.

The goal of this study was to determine if antegrade biological pacing can attenuate RV PICM.

In pigs with complete atrioventricular (AV) block, transcription factor T-box 18 (TBX18) was injected into the His bundle region in either of 2 experimental protocols: protocol A sought to prevent PICM, and protocol B sought to reverse PICM. In protocol A, we injected adenoviral vectors expressing TBX18 (or the reporter construct green fluorescent protein) after AV node ablation, and observed the animals for 8 weeks. In protocol B, PICM was established by using AV node ablation and 4 weeks of electronic RV pacing, at which point TBX18 was injected into the His bundle region.

In protocol A, TBX18 biological pacing led to superior chronotropic support (62.4 ± 3 beats/min vs. 50.4 ± 0.4 beats/min; p = 0.01), lower backup pacemaker utilization (45 ± 2.6% vs. 94.6 ± 1.4%; p = 0.001), and greater ejection fraction (58.5 ± 1.3% vs. 46.7 ± 2%; p = 0.001). In protocol B, full-blown RV PICM was evident 4 weeks after complete AV block in both groups; subsequent intervention led to higher mean heart rate (56 ± 2 beats/min vs. 50.1 ± 0.4 beats/min; p = 0.05), less backup pacemaker utilization (53 ± 8.2% vs. 95 ± 1.6%; p = 0.003), and a greater ejection fraction (61.7 ± 1.3% vs. 49 ± 1.6%; p = 0.0003) in TBX18-injected animals versus control animals.

In a preclinical model, pacemaker-induced cardiomyopathy can be prevented, and reversed, by restoring antegrade conduction with TBX18 biological pacing.