Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation in Patients With Right Bundle-Branch Block: Should Prophylactic Pacing Be Undertaken?

Introduction: Right bundle-branch block (RBBB) is a strong predictor of the development of high-grade AV block (AVB) after TAVI.

Aims: To assess mortality, length-of-hospital stay, and cost in patients with RBBB undergoing TAVI according to whether or not they had preprocedural permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation.

Methods And Results: A total of 121 patients with RBBB who underwent TAVI between 2009-2021 were included. A total of 41 patients (33.9%) received a prophylactic PPM by clinical preference and 45/80 patients (56%) received PPM after TAVI. Baseline characteristics were balanced. Mortality was similar at 5 years, with death in 17 patients (41.4%) in the prophylactic PPM group vs 27 (33.8%) in the no prophylactic PPM group (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.69-2.33; P=.44). Median survival for the prophylactic PPM (4.2 years), post TAVI PPM (4.5 years) and no pacemaker (4.7 years) groups was similar. Sixteen deaths (35.6%) occurred in those receiving PPM after TAVI and 11 deaths (31.4%) occurred in those not receiving PPM (HR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.43-2.09; P=.90). Thirty-day all-cause mortality was similar. Compared with post-TAVI PPM, prophylactic PPM reduced hospital length of stay (4.3 ± 4.5 days vs 2.5 ± 1.6 days, respectively; P=.02). For the highest and lowest complication and comorbidity scores, prophylactic PPM resulted in cost savings of £297.32 (-2.9%) and excess cost of £423.89 (+5.6%), respectively. There were no major pacing-related complications.

Conclusions: More than half of patients with RBBB undergoing TAVI require PPM shortly after their valve implant. A prophylactic pacing strategy is safe, reduces length of hospital stay, and is cost effective in the United Kingdom.