Conduction System Versus Right Ventricular Pacing in Patients Undergoing TAVR: A Multicenter Propensity-Matched Study

Pacemaker implantation after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is common and has been associated with adverse clinical outcomes. Cardiac physiological pacing (CPP) may preserve ventricular synchrony and reduce heart failure (HF) events compared with right ventricular pacing (RVP).

This study sought to compare long-term clinical outcomes of CPP vs RVP in patients requiring permanent pacing after TAVR.

Registro de Estimulación Fisiológica-TAVR is a retrospective, multicenter nationwide registry including patients undergoing TAVR and pacemaker implantation within 30 days. Propensity score matching (1:1) was performed using baseline clinical and echocardiographic variables, yielding 466 matched pairs. The primary endpoint was the composite of cardiovascular death or HF hospitalization. Cox proportional hazards models were used for time-to-event analyses. Median follow-up was 24 months.

In the propensity score-matched cohort, CPP was associated with a lower incidence of the primary endpoint than RVP (9.7% vs 17.6%; HR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.39-0.83; P = 0.003). This difference was driven by fewer HF hospitalizations (7.9% vs 13.9%; HR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.37-0.86; P = 0.008). No significant differences were observed in cardiovascular death or all-cause mortality between groups.

In this multicenter propensity score-matched study, CPP after TAVR was associated with a lower risk of the primary endpoint, driven by fewer HF hospitalizations. These findings support the need for further randomized clinical trials to evaluate the role of CPP in post-TAVR patients requiring ventricular pacing.