Beneficial effects of upgrading to His-Purkinje system pacing in patients with pacing-induced cardiomyopathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of His-Purkinje system pacing (HPSP) in the management of patients with pace-induced cardiomyopathy (PICM).

Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched comprehensively to collect related studies published from the inception of databases to June 1, 2022. R 4.04 software, including the Metafor package, matrix package, and the Meta package, was utilized to conduct the singe-arm meta-analysis. The methodology index for non-randomized studies (MINORS) was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies.

Results: A total of seven studies were included, involving 164 PICM patients. The meta-analysis showed that HPSP ameliorated the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) by 13.41% (95% CI [11.21-15.61]), improved the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification by 1.02 (95% CI [-1.41 to -0.63]), and shortened the QRS duration (QRSd) by 60.85 ms (95% CI [-63.94 to -57.75]), resulting in improved cardiac functions in PICM patients. Besides, HPSP reversed the ventricular remodeling, with a 32.46 ml (95% CI [-53.18 to -11.75]) decrease in left ventricular end systolic volume (LVESV) and a 5.93 mm (95% CI [-7.68 to -4.19]) decrease in left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD). HPSP also showed stable electrical parameters of pacemakers, with a 0.07 V (95% CI [0.01-0.13]) increase in pacing threshold, a 0.02 mV (95% CI [-0.85 to 0.90]) increase in sensed R-wave amplitude, and a 31.12 Ω reduction in impedance (95% CI [-69.62 to 7.39]). Compared with LBBP, HBP improved LVEF by 13.28% (95% CI [-11.64 to 14.92]) 14.43% (95% CI [-13.01 to 15.85]), ameliorated NHYA classification by 1.18 (95% CI [-1.97 to -0.39]) 0.95 (95% CI [-1.33 to -0.58]), shortened QRSd by 63.16 ms (95% CI [-67.00 to -59.32]) 57.98 ms (95% CI [-62.52 to -53.25]), and decreased LVEDD by 4.12 mm (95% CI [-5.79 to -2.45]) 6.26 mm (95% CI [-62.52 to -53.25]). The electrical parameters of the pacemaker were stable in both groups.

Conclusions: This meta-analysis showed that HPSP could significantly improve cardiac function, promote reverse remodeling, and provide stable electrical parameters of pacemakers for PICM patients.