Electrical remodeling following percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation.

Sudden cardiac death in congenital heart disease is related to increased right ventricular end-diastolic volume (RVEDV), abnormalities of QRS duration, and QRS, JT, and QT dispersions. Surgical pulmonary valve replacement and percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation (PPVI) decrease RVEDV, but the effects of PPVI on surface electrocardiographic parameters are unknown. PPVI represents a pure model of RV mechanical and electrophysiologic changes after replacement. This prospective study sought to determine the effects of PPVI on surface electrocardiographic parameters: Ninety-nine PPVI procedures in patients with congenital heart disease (23.1 ± 10 years of age) were studied before, after, and 1 year after PPVI with serial electrocardiograms and echocardiogram/magnetic resonance images. Forty-three percent had pulmonary stenosis, 27% pulmonary regurgitation (PR), and 29% mixed lesions. In those with predominantly PR (n = 26), QRS duration decreased significantly (135 ± 27 to 128 ± 29 ms, p = 0.007). However, in the total cohort no significant change in QRS duration at 1 year was observed (137 ± 29 to 134 ± 29 ms). Corrected QT interval and QRS, QT, and JT dispersions significantly decreased at 1 year (p ≤0.001). RVEDV correlated with preprocedure QRS duration (r = 0.34, p