Does advanced implanter experience improve procedural times and reduce complications during dual-chamber leadless pacemaker implantation?
Implantation of a novel dual-chamber leadless pacemaker is highly successful (99%), with procedural times and complication rates significantly improving as implanter experience increases.
BACKGROUND: Initial results were recently reported for the AVEIR DR i2i study, which involved the percutaneous implantation of a novel dual-chamber leadless pacemaker (LP) system, with right atrial and right ventricular LPs delivering atrioventricular synchronous pacing. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate procedural outcomes and learning curve for de novo implantation of the dual-chamber LP (AVEIR DR, Abbott, Abbott Park, IL). METHODS: Implant procedure metrics collected during the study were analyzed, including procedural complications within 30 days of implantation. Procedural outcomes were evaluated according to implanter experience: 1-4 vs 9+ dual-chamber LP implant procedures (ie, initial vs advanced implant experience). RESULTS: De novo dual-chamber LPs were successfully implanted in 446 of 452 patients (99%) by 126 physicians. Mean procedural duration metrics included 90±37 minutes of introducer sheath insertion-to-removal time, 74±32 minutes of dual-chamber procedure duration, 26±17 minutes of right ventricular LP procedure duration, 42±24 minutes of right atrial LP procedure duration, and 20±13 minutes of fluoroscopy duration; between initial and advanced implant experience, there were reductions of 19%-36% (P<.05) in these duration metrics. There were 62 procedural complications in 50 of 452 patients (11.1%) (ie, 88.9% complication free), predominantly involving cardiac arrhythmias (ie, atrial fibrillation/flutter or complete atrioventricular block; 16 of 452 3.5%). Freedom from complications significantly improved from 89% to 98% of patients (P<.05) when comparing initial and advanced implant experience. CONCLUSION: In a pivotal investigational study, implantation of a dual-chamber LP system was successful in 99% of patients. Advanced implant experience was accompanied by improvements in procedural outcomes including reduced procedural times (introducer sheath insertion to removal, dual-chamber procedure, ventricular LP and atrial LP procedures, and fluoroscopy) and improved freedom from complications. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05252702.
Doshi et al. (Thu,) studied this question.