Septal pacing preserving better left ventricular mechanical performance and contractile synchronism than apical pacing in patients implanted with an atrioventricular sequential dual chamber pacemaker.
BACKGROUND
Permanent pacing is the treatment for chronotropically incompetent hearts. However, the right ventricular (RV) apical pacing-induced asynchrony, even maintaining the atrioventricular (AV) sequential activation, has depressed left ventricular contractility. Whether RV septal pacing would less compromise the electromechanical performance of the left ventricle and the chronotropic effect on myocardial contractility, is unknown.


METHODS
We prospectively studied 42 patients without structural heart diseases and with symptomatic bradycardia. There were 10 patients receiving atrial pacing (AAI) pacemakers, 18 patients having AV sequential pacing at RV apex (DDDapx) and 14 patients being AV sequentially paced at septum (DDDspt). Echocardiography was performed before and within 72 h after the pacemaker implantation. The ventricular mechanical performance and asynchrony was compared in conditions of programmed rates of 60, 80 and 100/min.


RESULTS
Myocardial performance index was significantly better in DDDspt than in DDDapx patients (p=0.003). With faster programmed rate, the QRS/RR increased (p<0.05) in DDDapx patients with more inter- and intraventricular asynchrony, implicating the disadvantage of prolonged depolarization time. The DDDspt group demonstrated comparable parameters of diastolic function to AAI patients and preserved mechanical performance during accelerated pacing.


CONCLUSIONS
RV septal pacing showed the advantages of shorter depolarization time, less ventricular contractile asynchrony, better mechanical performance and preserved chronotropic response on myocardial contractility in comparison with apical pacing.
Yu
Chih-Chieh
CC
Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 7, Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei 10016, Taiwan. sweetchieh@yahoo.com
Liu
Yen-Bin
YB
Lin
Mao-Shin
MS
Wang
Jen-Yu
JY
Lin
Jiunn-Lee
JL
Lin
Lung-Chun
LC
D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001283:Atrioventricular Node / Q000503:physiopathology; D001919:Bradycardia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial / Q000379:methods*; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009200:Myocardial Contraction; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*