Permanent cardiac pacing after open heart surgery: congenital heart disease.
A retrospective review of 6,004 patients who underwent open repair of congenital heart defects revealed that 132 patients (2.2%) required permanent cardiac pacing postoperatively. The indications for pacing were early atrioventricular (AV) block in 55%, late onset AV block in 31%, and sick sinus syndrome in 14%. A ventricular septal defect (VSD) was the most common congenital anomaly present alone or in association with other lesions in 67% of the patients. Atrial surgery accounted for 21% of the patients requiring pacing. Ten-year patient survival was found to be 66% (+/- 6%). Thirty-five percent of the deaths were sudden and unexpected, presumably due to an arrhythmia. Reoperation for pacing system failure has occurred too frequently (12% per year). The most common causes for reoperation were battery failure (44%) and exit block (25%).
B S
BS
Goldman
W G
WG
Williams
T
T
Hill
P S
PS
Hesslein
P R
PR
McLaughlin
G A
GA
Trusler
R J
RJ
Baird
D000328:Adult; D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial; D002648:Child; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006327:Heart Block / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000628:therapy*; D012086:Reoperation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012804:Sick Sinus Syndrome / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy