Primary prevention implantable cardioverter-defibrillator and cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillator in elderly patients: results of a Spanish multicentre study.

AIMS: Currently, there continues to be a lack of evidence regarding outcomes associated with device-based therapy for ventricular arrhythmias in elderly patients, even more in primary-prevention indications. We aimed to describe the follow-up in terms of efficacy and safety of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy in a large cohort of elderly patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: Retrospective multicentre study performed in 15 Spanish hospitals. Consecutive patients referred for ICD implantation before 2011 were included. One hundred and sixty-two of 1174 patients (13.8%) ≥75 years were considered as 'elderly'. When compared with those patients <75, this subgroup presented more co-morbid conditions, including hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , and renal failure, and more previous hospitalizations due to heart failure (HF). During a mean follow-up of 104.4 ± 3.3 months, 162 patients (14%) died, 120 in the younger age (12.4%), and 42 (24.4%) in the elderly. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed an increased probability of death with increasing age (17, 24, 28, and 69% at 12, 24, 48, and 60 months of follow-up in the elderly group). There was neither difference regarding the rate of appropriate nor inappropriate ICD intervention. CONCLUSION: In a real-world scenario, elderly patients comprise ∼15% of ICD implantations for primary prevention of sudden cardiac death (SCD). Although the rate of appropriate therapy is similar between groups, the benefit of ICD is attenuated for a major increase in mortality risk among those patients ≥75 years at the moment of device implantation.

Atrial fibrillation in patients hospitalized for congestive heart failure: the same prognostic influence independently of left ventricular systolic function?

UNLABELLED: Atrial fibrillation (AF) was described to be associated with an adverse prognosis in several studies of heart failure (HF). However, it is not clear whether it directly increased mortality or is only a marker for severity of HF. AIMS: To determine the influence of AF on mortality of HF patients distinguishing between patients with preserved and deteriorated systolic function (SF). METHOD AND RESULTS: 1636 patients who, between 1991 and 2002 had been hospitalized in a Cardiology Service for HF, were studied. Survival (SV) data (mean follow-up time: 3.14 years) has shown that there was no difference in SV between patients with (540 patients of the whole group) and without AF in the group with preserved SF (presented in 38.7% of cases), however, in the group of patients with deteriorated SF (AF presented in 31.0% of cases), SV time was significantly (p=0.01) shorter among patients with AF, this association being independent of age, sex, aetiology, risk factors, clinical signs and pharmacological treatment; relative risk: 1.831(1.120-2.994). CONCLUSION: AF is more prevalent among HF patients with preserved SF than among those with deteriorated SF, but only increases the risk of death among the latter.

Risk of atrial fibrillation, stroke, and death after radiofrequency catheter ablation of typical atrial flutter.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the incidence, predictors, and prognostic clinical impact of atrial fibrillation (AF) over time after cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI) ablation of typical atrial flutter (AFL). METHODS: This was a follow-up observational study using 408 patients who underwent CTI AFL ablation between 1998 and 2010. The relationships between the different predictors and the outcomes (AF, stroke, and death) were modeled by means of multistate Cox model analyses. RESULTS: The incident rate of AF per 100 person-years during follow-up was 10.2 (95 % CI 8.7-11.8). Prior AF and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were the only independent variables to predict AF occurrence in the population. Their hazard ratios (HRs) were 2.55 (95 % CI 1.84-3.52) and 1.56 (95 % CI 1.08-2.27), respectively. Patients who transitioned to AF had an increased risk of death by an HR of 2.82 (95 % CI 1.88-4.70) and an increased risk of stroke by an HR of 2.93 (95 % CI 1.12-8.90). Age, COPD, and heart failure (HF) were predictive factors of death by HRs of 1.05 (95 % CI 1.00-1.08), 2.85 (95 % CI 1.39-5.83), and 2.72 (95 % CI 1.15-6.40), respectively. Age, smoking, COPD, and HF were predictive factors of death in the group of patients with AF during follow-up. HRs were 1.07 (95 % CI 1.02-1.12), 2.55 (95 % CI 1.55-4.21), 7.60 (95 % CI 3.01-19.16), and 3.07 (95 % CI 1.18-7.95), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The transition to AF after CTI AFL ablation was high during a long-term follow-up period and maintained over time. Prior AF and COPD were the primary predictors of transition to AF after CTI AFL ablation. Patients who transitioned to AF had an increased risk of stroke and a more than twofold mortality rate. These clinical implications make it necessary to investigate AF after CTI ablation.