SAFEty of Two Strategies of ICD Management at Implantation

SAFEty of Two Strategies of ICD Management at Implantation

The aim of this prospective observational study is to evaluate the safety, over a follow-up of 2 years, of two strategies, consisting in performing or not performing defibrillation testing(DT) during first implant of implantable cardioverter defibrillator

The standardized requirements for implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) include defibrillation testing (DT), consisting in induction and termination of ventricular fibrillation (VF). An effective DT has historically been considered part of standard procedures at implant. Nevertheless, implant techniques and technology have evolved during years and nowadays deviations are frequent in clinical practice mainly due to the fact that physicians are seriously concerned about the risk of severe complications related to DT. However, the practice of not performing DT is arbitrary and its safety is yet unproven. This observational study will assess the safety of the two strategies adopted at ICD implant: induction (including patients who undergo DT at implant) and non-induction (including patients who do not undergo DT at implant. No deviation from the centres' current practice in choosing to perform or not perform DT is introduced by this study protocol. The study considers consecutive patients undergoing first implant of ICD

Inclusion Criteria:

• first implantation of ICD or CRT-D
• Patients undergoing upgrade to ICD or CRT-D from pacemaker
• Patients undergoing upgrade to CRT-D from CRT
• Age 18 or above, or legal age to give written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who do not give consent to treat their data.