Echocardiographic assessment of ventricular contraction and synchrony in children with isolated complete atrioventricular block and epicardial pacing: Implications of interventricular mechanical delay.

AIMS

To assess the correlations between interventricular mechanical delay (IVMD) and cardiac function in children with isolated complete atrioventricular block and epicardial pacing.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We enrolled 13 children (six boys) with an epicardial dual-chamber pacemaker due to isolated complete or advanced atrioventricular block. The patients were 9.8 (range, 6.8-15.3) years old, and none had symptomatic heart failure at the follow-up visit. Ventricular pacing sites, which remained the same for 7.2 (1.6-12.3) years, were the left ventricle (LV) in two patients, right ventricle (RV) in four patients, and both ventricles in seven patients. IVMD was ≤40 ms in six patients (short IVMD group) and >40 ms in seven patients (long IVMD group). Compared with the long IVMD group, the short IVMD group was associated with better LV longitudinal strain (-20% [-24% to -18%] vs -16% [-20% to -13%], P < .05). The short IVMD group had superior LV mechanical synchrony than the long IVMD group (septal to lateral delay of the time to peak longitudinal strain 15 [-16-78] ms vs 78 [13-93] ms, P < .05; standard deviation of the time to peak radial strain 13 [9-34] ms vs 35 [18-64] ms, P < .05).

CONCLUSION

In children with epicardial pacing at LV, RV, or both ventricles, a left-sided contraction delay was associated with poorer LV contraction and impaired LV synchrony. IVMD will help to stratify patients during follow-up.