Safety of transvenous lead removal in adult congenital heart disease: a national perspective

Abstract

Introduction and objectivesData are scarce on outcomes of transvenous lead removal (TLR) in adult congenital heart disease (CHD). We evaluated the safety of the TLR procedure in adult CHD patients from a 10-year national database. MethodsWe used the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample to identify TLR procedures in adult patients with and without CHD from 2005 to 2014. Outcomes included in-hospital mortality and complications. ResultsOf 132 068 adult patients undergoing TLR, 1939 had simple CHD, 657 had complex CHD, and 626 had unclassified CHD. The number of TLR procedures in adult CHD slightly increased from 236 in 2005 to 445 in 2014, with fluctuations over the study period. The overall rate of any complications in the TLR procedure was 16.6% in patients with CHD vs 10.1% in patients without CHD (P <.001). In a propensity score-matched cohort, CHD was associated with a higher risk of any complication after full adjustment vs patients without CHD (adjusted odd ratio, 1.49; 95% confidence interval, 1.11-1.99; P=.007). Simple and complex CHD were associated with 1.5- and 2.1-fold increased risks of any TLR-related complication, respectively. CHD was not associated with an increased risk of in-hospital mortality (adjusted odd ratio, 0.77; 95% confidence interval, 0.42-1.39; P=.386). ConclusionsCompared with patients without CHD, adult patients with simple and complex CHD undergoing TLR are more likely to have complications but show no increase in mortality.