Long-term follow-up after steroid-eluting epicardial pacemaker implantation in young children: a single centre experience

AIMS: The purpose of this paper is the retrospective investigation of the clinical outcome and modes of failure leading to reoperation, as well as the report of the long-term results, in a group of young children who underwent epicardial pacemaker implantation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Between 2000 and 2008, 45 young children underwent epicardial pacemaker implantation at 3.2 +/- 2.5 years of age for congenital (n = 27) or post-operative (n = 18) atrioventricular block. The follow-up time was 5.7 years +/- 5 months (range: 6 months to 7.3 years). Five lead malfunction events (11%) were detected during the follow-up time, three of which were due to ventricular lead fracture. All revisions could be performed without complications, and all revised pacemakers showed stable pacing and sensing parameters during long-term follow-up. The actuarial freedom from reoperation at 6 years was 88.8 +/- 2%. Median epicardial ventricular and atrial pacing thresholds were stable and excellent at the latest follow-up, with means of 1.1 +/- 0.5 V and 0.7 +/- 0.8 V, respectively. CONCLUSION: In our patient cohort of 45 young children, epicardial pacing was associated with a satisfactory clinical outcome and acceptable long-term results. The major cause of reoperation in our series was lead fracture. Reoperations were performed at a low risk.