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

Abstract

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. 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 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.