Background: Although left bundle-branch block (LBBB) is a known conduction disorder that occurs after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), its clinical impact in the Japanese population remains unclear.
Methods and results: Of the 298 consecutive patients who underwent TAVI from January 2016 to December 2018 in a high-volume center in Japan, 68 with prior or periprocedural permanent pacemaker implantation (PPI), pre-existing LBBB, death during hospitalization, aborted procedure, or incomplete data were excluded. Among the final cohort of 230 patients, new-onset LBBB occurred in 90 (39%) after TAVI and persisted at 1-month follow up in 29 patients (13%; persistent new-onset LBBB, PN-LBBB). On multivariable analysis, self-expandable valve (SEV) use was found to be the only predictor of PN-LBBB (odds ratio: 4.39, 95% confidence interval: 1.69-11.41, P=0.002). There were no differences between patients with and without PN-LBBB in terms of overall mortality (18.8% vs. 26.0%, log-rank P=0.90) or need for late PPI (4.0% vs. 3.5%, log-rank P=0.74), yet there was an increased re-admission rate for heart failure (HF) in the PN-LBBB group (15.6% vs. 8.0%, log-rank P=0.046) at a median follow up of 431 (interquartile range, 271-733) days.
Conclusions: PN-LBBB following TAVI was not associated with mortality or late PPI, but with a higher incidence of HF-related re-hospitalization at the mid-term follow up.
Keywords: Heart failure; Left bundle-branch block; Mortality; Pacemaker; Transcatheter aortic valve implantation.