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Published on: September 24, 2021
Steroid Use for Recovery of advanced atrioVentricular block Immediately after VALvular surgery (SURVIVAL): A
Saeed Ghodsi1, Farzad Masoudkabir1,2, Zahra Hosseini1
1Cardiac Primary Prevention Research Center, Tehran Heart Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Background:
Atrioventricular block (AVB) is an important complication following valvular surgery. Several factors including inflammation-mediated injury might trigger AVB.
Methods:
Patients with advanced postoperative AVB were randomly assigned to receive either dexamethasone (0.4 mg/kg, maximum 30 mg/day) intravenously for 3 days or conservative care only. Primary endpoint was recovery rate in Day 5 since randomization. Secondary endpoints were recovery rate in Day 7 and Day 10, cumulative AVB time, permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation rate, length of stay in critical care units, and postoperative major adverse events (MAE).
Results:
We enrolled 139 subjects (48.9% male) with mean age of 59.9 years randomly allocated to intervention group (n = 69) and control group (n = 70). Dexamethasone led to higher recovery rates at Day 5 (82.6% vs. 62.9%, p = .009) and Day 7 (88.4% vs. 61.4%, p < .0001) respectively. This benefit ceased at Day 10 (83.05% vs. 78.6%, p = .547). Median cumulative AVB time was shorter in dexamethasone group compared with control group (41 h vs. 64 h, p = .044). PPM implantation rates were similar between the dexamethasone and control groups (15.9% vs. 17.1%, respectively, p = .849). Median length of stay in intensive care unit (ICU) (10 days vs. 12 days, p = .03) and MAE (17.4% vs. 25.7%, p = .133) tended to be lower with dexamethasone.
Conclusion:
Dexamethasone may serve as a safe and effective medication to help hasten recovery of advanced AVB after valvular surgery.
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