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- Title
Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Utilization Among Device Recipients Presenting Exclusively with Syncope or Near-Syncope.
- Authors
Militianu, Arie; Salacata, Abraham; Seibert, Karen; Kehoe, Richard; Baga, John J.; Meissner, Marc D.; Pires, Luis A.; Schuger, Claudio D.; Steinman, Russell T.; Mosteller, Robert D.; Palti, Amos J.; David, Joseph Ben; Lessmeier, Timothy J.; Lehmann, Michael H.
- Abstract
Introduction: Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are occasionally used in presumed high-risk patients with electrocardiographically undocumented syncope. although the incidence of ventricular tachyarrhythmias in this population is not well defined. Methods and Results: We studied 33 consecutive patients receiving an ICD (67% nonthoracotomy and 70% tiered therapy) after electrophysiologic testing for unmonitored "syncope" (n = 29) or "near-syncope" (n = 4). Atherosclerotic heart disease was present in 24 (73%); mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was 0.3M ± 0.15; and sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (SMVT) was inducible in 18 (55%). Over a median follow-up of 17 months (range 4 to 61), 12 patients (36%) received ≥ 1 appropriate ICD discharge triggered by SMVT (cycle length 230 to 375 msec) in 10 and ventricular flutter or fibrillation in 2--without concomitant antiarrhythmic medication in 8 of 12 cases. Inducible SMVT and LVEF < 0.35 were statistically significant, independent predictors of an appropriate ICD discharge (P < 0.02 and P < 0.03, respectively). Estimated 1-year cumulative survival free of appropriate discharge was 34% versus 87%, respectively, in patients with versus without inducible SMVT (P < 0.02), and 18% versus 56%, respectively, in patients with LVEF ≤ 0.35 versus LVEF > 0.35 (P < 0.03). Conclusion: In this highly select, multicenter population of ICD recipients with electrocardiographically undocumented syncope, a substantial incidence of appropriate device discharges was observed, particularly in patients with inducible SMVT and LVEF ≤ 0.35. These findings support the notion that, in patients with LV dysfunction and inducible SMVT, ventricular tachyarrhythmias are likely to account for episodes of syncope or near-syncope.
- Subjects
IMPLANTABLE cardioverter-defibrillators; ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHY; SYNCOPE; VENTRICULAR tachycardia; TACHYARRHYTHMIAS
- Publication
Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology, 1997, Vol 8, Issue 10, p1087
- ISSN
1045-3873
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1540-8167.1997.tb00994.x