Arrhythmias and Clinical Outcomes in a Swiss Multicenter Cohort of Patients With Dextro‐Transposition of the Great Arteries and Atrial Switch

Abstract

Background Data on the incidence of arrhythmias, associated cardiac interventions, and outcome in patients with dextro‐transposition of the great arteries and atrial switch are scarce. Methods and Results In this multicenter analysis, we included adult patients with dextro‐transposition of the great arteries and atrial switch regularly followed up at 3 Swiss tertiary care hospitals. The primary outcome was a composite of left ventricular assist device, heart transplantation, and death. The secondary outcome was occurrence of ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, or sudden cardiac death. We identified 207 patients (34% women; median age at last follow‐up, 35 years) with dextro‐transposition of the great arteries and atrial switch. Arrhythmias occurred in 97 patients (47%) at a median age of 22 years. A pacemaker or an implantable cardioverter‐defibrillator was implanted in 39 (19%) and 13 (6%) patients, respectively, and 33 (16%) patients underwent a total of 51 ablation procedures to target 60 intra‐atrial re‐entry tachycardias, 4 atrioventricular nodal re‐entry tachycardias, and 1 atrial fibrillation. The primary outcome occurred in 21 patients (10%), and the secondary outcome occurred in 18 patients (9%); both were more common in patients with concomitant ventricular septum defect than in those without (hazard ratio [HR], 3.06 [95% CI, 1.29–7.27], P=0.011; and HR, 3.62 [95% CI, 1.43–9.18], P=0.007, respectively). Conclusions In patients with dextro‐transposition of the great arteries and atrial switch reaching adulthood, arrhythmias occur in almost half of patients, and associated rhythm interventions are frequent. One‐tenth of those patients do not survive until the age of 35 years free from left ventricular assist device or heart transplantation, and the outcome is worse in patients with concomitant ventricular septum defect.

Keywords

• atrial switch procedure
• cardiac arrhythmia
• implantable cardioverter‐defibrillator
• intra‐atrial re‐entry tachycardia
• pacemaker
• sudden cardiac death