Methods:
Ethics Approval Statement :
This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Emory
University.
Patient Selection :
We performed a retrospective analysis of patients referred for TLE of
lead(s) across the TV from January 2014 to October 2021 at Emory
Healthcare. TLE was defined as either removal of right ventricular (RV)
lead(s) implanted for > 1 year or lead removal requiring
specialized extraction equipment, per the 2017 Heart Rhythm Society
consensus statement on CIED management.6 Patients
included in this analysis were those with paired echocardiograms (either
transthoracic or transesophageal) within 3 years prior to extraction and
within 1 year after extraction. Patients were excluded if the severity
of TR could not be adequately assessed on either echocardiogram, if
additional interventions to treat TR were performed (i.e. surgical or
percutaneous TV replacement or repair) or if mechanical circulatory
support was utilized at any time between the baseline and follow-up
echocardiograms.