Influence of vegetation shape on outcomes in transvenous lead extractions: Does shape matter?

Small vegetations (<2.0 cm) associated with infected cardiac device leads can be managed percutaneously, whereas larger vegetations typically are removed via open heart surgery. Unfortunately, many patients with intracardiac vegetations are not candidates for open removal.

The purpose of this study was to report our experience in the outcomes associated with the percutaneous management of large vegetations.

Prospective data from January 2010 to August 2018 identified 826 patients with infections undergoing lead extraction. One hundred nineteen cases had vegetations measured in 2 dimensions (length and width) by transesophageal echocardiogram. Thirty-two patients had 3 characteristics: (1) at least 1 vegetation dimension ≥2.0 cm; (2) not a surgical candidate; and (3) had undergone transvenous lead extraction. The cohort was classified into 2 groups according to shape: (1) globular if the difference between dimensions was <30% between dimensions; and (2) nonglobular if the difference was >30%. The Fisher exact test and Pearson t test were used for analysis. P <.05 was considered significant.

Retrospective analysis of a single tertiary cardiac surgery center registry showed a significantly lower chance of being alive at discharge in patients with globular vegetations compared to patients with nonglobular vegetations (P = .002).

Vegetation size is an important determinant of outcomes in patients who are not surgical candidates undergoing transvenous lead extraction. However, vegetation shape is also a relevant factor, as globular vegetations may predict a worse result compared to nonglobular vegetations.