How common is pacemaker use after heart valve surgery?

High volume hospitals with experienced surgeons may be able to achieve similar outcomes without needing to implant the device

10:48 AM

Author | Noah Fromson

heart drawing
Jacob Dwyer, Justine Ross, Michigan Medicine

People having surgery to repair tight or leaking heart valves may receive a pacemaker more often than necessary — leading to a greater risk for life-threatening complications, studies show.

It’s common for a patient with a leaking mitral valve to have the same issue in the tricuspid valve. Not repairing the leaks, often referred to as regurgitation, can cause heart failure.

In a 2021 national study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, patients who had the two valve issues corrected in one surgery were less likely to experience worsening tricuspid valve disease.

However, when both valves were fixed, 14% of patients in the trial required a pacemaker, which regulates the heart’s rhythm. 

Similar results were reported by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons in 2017. 

“Needing a pacemaker after heart surgery is not benign and can put the patients at risk for late complications, including heart failure,” said Gorav Ailawadi, M.D, M.B.A., chair of the Department of Cardiac Surgery at U-M Health and a co-director of the U-M Health Frankel Cardiovascular Center. 

“We were shocked about these reports and were interested in examining our experience at a high volume hospital with one of the largest experiences of mitral valve surgery.” 

The research team at the Frankel Cardiovascular Center reviewed nearly 1,500 cases of patients receiving simultaneous mitral valve surgery and tricuspid valve repair between 2011 and 2021.  

Patients who had operations performed by surgeons with mitral valve expertise received a pacemaker 4% of the time, less than one-third of the rate reported in the national study.

The results are published in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery

“While there is clear clinical benefit of avoiding further tricuspid valve disease by doing simultaneous mitral and tricuspid surgery, our study reinforces that it’s possible to achieve a very low rate of pacemaker implantation for these patients,” said Catherine M. Wagner, M.D., M.Sc., co-author and integrated thoracic surgery resident at U-M Health.

“We anticipate similar results at other select hospitals with experienced surgeons who perform a high volume of mitral and tricuspid surgery.”

The findings highlight the importance of surgical training and experience in achieving consistent outcomes for this patient population, says Ailawadi, who was senior author of the study. 

“Experience and technique do matter,” he said. “We owe it to patients to teach surgeons optimal techniques.”

Additional authors: Danika E. Meldrum, M.S., Tessa M.F. Watt, M.D., M.Sc., Robert B. Hawkins, M.D., M.Sc., China J. Green, Matthew A. Romano, M.D., Steven F. Bolling, M.D., all of the U-M Health Department of Cardiac Surgery, Alexander A. Brescia, M.D, M.Sc., of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Funding/disclosures: Brescia is an associate editor for digital media and digital scholarship for the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

Paper cited: “Risk of Pacemaker Implantation After Degenerative Mitral and Concomitant Tricuspid Valve Surgery,” The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. DOI: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2024.05.008 

Sign up for Health Lab newsletters today. Get medical tips from top experts and learn about new scientific discoveries every week by subscribing to Health Lab’s two newsletters, Health & Wellness and Research & Innovation.

Sign up for the Health Lab Podcast: Add us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get you listen to your favorite shows. 


More Articles About: Valve Disease Cardiovascular: Diseases & Conditions Heart disease Valve Repair and Replacement Cardiovascular: Treatment & Surgery
Health Lab word mark overlaying blue cells
Health Lab

Explore a variety of health care news & stories by visiting the Health Lab home page for more articles.

Media Contact Public Relations

Department of Communication at Michigan Medicine

[email protected]

734-764-2220

In This Story
ailawadi-gorav.jpg Gorav Ailawadi

Professor

Related
Woman Patient Preparing Surgery Anesthesia
Health Lab
Female heart patients less likely to have additional problems fixed during surgery
Two studies led by Michigan Medicine find that female patients who undergo heart surgery are less likely to have secondary ailments corrected during a procedure — despite guidelines that indicate they should.
Stay Informed

Want top health & research news weekly? Sign up for Health Lab’s newsletters today!

Subscribe
Featured News & Stories surgeon dark room over surgery patient on hospital table
Health Lab
Women more likely than men to die after heart surgery complications
Despite having no greater chance of developing problems after high risk cardiovascular surgery, women are more likely than men to die from post-operative complications, a University of Michigan-led study suggests.
young adult man standin infront of welcome to michigan yellow sign and a photo next to that one of him sitting with a man standing next to him in glasses and UM badge and button down light blue shirt
Health Lab
Timely CPR saves runner who collapsed during first week of college
Bystander CPR saves a first year college student who collapsed from sudden cardiac arrest while running during his first week of school.
three students standing on stairs in Michigan shirts
Health Lab
From babies needing heart surgeries to Michigan Wolverines
After long congenital heart journeys at University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and U-M Health West, three 2024 Grand Rapids area high school graduates are back at University of Michigan: this time, as official Michigan Wolverines.
Survival flight pilots and person standing by helicopter smiling
Health Lab
Motivational speaker reunites with Survival Flight nurses after sudden aortic dissection
A father and motivational speaker, who experienced an urgent heart problem, reunites with his Survival Flight nurses who helped save his life
yellow measurement yellow twirled around blue colored money signs and RX bottles and pills and shots
Health Lab
The heart of the question: Who can get Medicare-covered weight loss medicine?
Wegovy (semaglutide) now has Medicare approval for coverage among people with obesity and cardiovascular disease but no diabetes; a study looks at what level of risk might make someone eligible.
prescription pad blue yellow sketch
Health Lab
Risk of clots, stroke from incorrect blood thinner dosing reduced using online dashboard
Doctors and pharmacists treating people with blood thinners can now reduce the rate of inappropriate dosing — as well as blood clots and strokes that can result from it — using an electronic patient management system.