The Impact of Cardiac Chamber Volumes on Permanent His Bundle Pacing Procedural Outcomes-A Single Center Experience
Catalin Pestrea1,2,3, Ecaterina Cicala1, Madalina Ivascu1
1Department of Interventional Cardiology, Brasov County Clinical Emergency Hospital, 500326 Brasov, Romania.
Insights
His bundle pacing (HBP) success depends on atrial size. Larger left and right atrial volumes increase the risk of failing to identify the His bundle electrogram during HBP procedures.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Electrophysiology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- His bundle pacing (HBP) is an alternative to traditional pacing methods.
- Identifying the His bundle and achieving capture can be challenging.
- Most HBP data uses dedicated, non-deflectable delivery systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess how cardiac chamber dimensions affect permanent HBP outcomes.
- To evaluate the impact of atrial volumes on His bundle electrogram identification using fixed-curve catheters.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of 72 patients undergoing HBP.
- Recorded baseline characteristics and echocardiographic measurements of all cardiac chambers.
- Analyzed procedural outcomes: His bundle electrogram identification and procedural success.
Main Results:
- His bundle electrogram identified in 81.9% of patients; successful HBP in 45.8%.
- Significantly higher left atrial (LA) and right atrial (RA) volumes in patients without His bundle electrogram identification.
- LA and RA volumes were associated with His bundle electrogram localization, not overall procedural success.
Conclusions:
- Increased LA (>93 mL) and RA (>60 mL) volumes are linked to a higher failure rate in localizing the His bundle electrogram.
- Preprocedural echocardiographic assessment of atrial volumes can guide the selection of appropriate non-deflectable delivery catheters for HBP.
- Optimizing tool selection based on atrial size may improve HBP procedural outcomes and reduce costs.
Abstract:
His bundle pacing (HBP) has several pitfalls, such as the inability to identify the His bundle and lack of capture at acceptable thresholds. The majority of data regarding HBP were obtained using a dedicated non-deflectable delivery system. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of cardiac chamber dimensions on permanent HBP procedural outcomes when using this type of fixed-curve catheter. Seventy-two patients subjected to HBP from the 1st of January to the 31st of December 2021 at our institution were retrospectively reviewed. The baseline clinical characteristics and echocardiographic measurements of all the cardiac chambers were recorded, as well as procedural outcomes (HB electrogram identification and overall procedural success). During the procedure, the HB electrogram was recorded in 59 patients (81.9%) and successful permanent HBP was achieved in 33 patients, representing 45.8% of all the studied patients. Left atrial (LA) and right atrial (RA) volumes were significantly higher in patients without HB electrogram identification. Only LA and RA volumes were statistically associated with HB electrogram localization, while there was no significant association between the echocardiographic parameters and procedural success. LA volumes above 93 mL and RA volumes above 60 mL had an 8.81 times higher chance of failure to localize the HB electrogram compared with patients with lower volumes (p < 0.001). When considering non-deflectable delivery catheters for HBP, careful preprocedural echocardiographic analysis of the atrial volumes could help in the proper selection of implanting tools, thus optimizing the procedural outcomes and costs.
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