The implantable cardioverter-defibrillator: does everybody need one?

Remote monitoring of implantable cardioverter defibrillator patients: a safe, time-saving, and cost-effective means for follow-up

Aims

The purpose of this prospective study was to investigate whether internet-based remote monitoring offers a safe, practical, and cost-effective alternative to the in-office follow-up visits of patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).

Methods and results

Forty-one patients (62 ± 10 years, range 41–76, 83% male) with previously implanted ICD were followed for 9 months. One-hundred and nineteen scheduled and 18 unscheduled data transmissions were performed. There were no device-related adverse events. Over 90% of the patients found the system easy to use. Physicians reported the system as being ‘very easy’ or ‘easy’ to use and found the data comparable to traditional device interrogation in 99% of the cases. They were able to address all unscheduled data transmissions remotely. Compared with the in-office visits, remote monitoring required less time from patients (6.9 ± 5.0 vs. 182 ± 148 min, P < 0.001) and physicians (8.4 ± 4.5 vs. 25.8 ± 17.0 min, P < 0.001) to complete the follow-up. Substitution of two routine in-office visits during the study by remote monitoring reduced the overall cost of routine ICD follow-up by 524€ per patient (41%).

Conclusion

Remote monitoring offers a safe, feasible, time-saving, and cost-effective solution to ICD follow-up.

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators: a new preventive medical option

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD or defibrillator) therapy has revolutionized the fields of cardiology and electrophysiology. Hundreds of thousands of patients at risk for sudden cardiac death receive them each year. The devices are not much larger than a pacemaker, and they have full pacemaker capabilities in addition to being able to shock patients out of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. The Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial (MADIT) in 1996 was a landmark trial that showed for the first time a mortality benefit of ICD therapy over medications in patients at high risk for sudden death. Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial II, published in 2002, extended these results to all patients with ischemic heart failure with depressed heart function. Candidates for ICD implantation include most patients with an ejection fraction of <30%, especially those with coronary artery disease. More work needs to be done to define those patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathies who will benefit from ICDs and biventricular pacing for heart failure.

Description of a nursing intervention program after an implantable cardioverter defibrillator

BACKGROUND

Although implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy has been found to be effective in preventing and treating life-threatening arrhythmias, adjusting to the ICD and resuming a normal lifestyle are often difficult. There are few intervention trials reported in the literature to aid in adjustment after receiving a primary ICD.

OBJECTIVE

This article describes the content and structure of a nursing intervention program designed to improve physical functioning and psychologic adjustment after ICD implantation. The nursing intervention program was based on social cognitive theory and the data from a previous investigation covering 7 areas of concern after ICD implantation.

CONCLUSION

Hospital-based education programs begin the process of recovery after ICD implantation, but they must be supplemented with further interventions to return the patient to baseline physical and psychologic functioning. This is a beginning effort in deriving and testing evidence-based intervention programs for patients with an ICD.