Distal His Pacing Promotes Reverse Remodeling in a Child With Conventional Pacing-Induced Ventricular Dysfunction

Children with indications of pacing often require epicardial pacemakers with generators implanted in the abdominal wall due to small body size or challenging anatomy because of congenital heart diseases. However, left ventricle (LV) systolic dyssynchrony induced by epicardial pacing may result in adverse remodeling and LV dysfunction. Recently, distal His bundle pacing (dHBP) has been shown to restore normal ventricular function in adult patients with pacemaker induced ventricular dysfunction. Nevertheless, the effects and relevance of HBP in pediatric patients are largely unresolved, with only limited data analyzing the feasibility and efficacy of HBP in the pediatric population. We report the case of a young girl with congenital atrioventricular (AV) block who developed LV dysfunction induced by prolonged epicardial stimulation. After upgrading to dHBP, she improved her LV ejection fraction from 40% to 60% and maintained stable pacing-sensing parameters over-time. We here provide a review of existing literature on the topic.