Managed ventricular pacing compared with conventional dual-chamber pacing for elective replacement in chronically paced patients: results of the Prefer for Elective Replacement Managed Ventricular Pacing randomized study.

BACKGROUND Several studies have shown that unnecessary right ventricular pacing has detrimental effects. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether minimization of ventricular pacing as compared with standard dual-chamber pacing (DDD) improves clinical outcomes in patients referred for pacemaker or implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) replacement. METHODS In an international single-blind, multicenter, randomized controlled trial, we compared DDD with managed ventricular pacing (MVP), a pacing mode developed to minimize ventricular pacing by promoting intrinsic atrioventricular conduction. We included patients referred for device replacement with >40% ventricular pacing, no cardiac resynchronization therapy upgrade indication, no permanent atrial fibrillation (AF), and no permanent complete atrioventricular block. Follow-up was for 2 years. The primary end point was cardiovascular hospitalization. The intention-to-treat analysis was performed by using Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test.