Use of wearable cardioverter defibrillator shortens the ICU stay and enables safe management in a general ward

Abstract

  Wearable cardioverter-defibrillator (WCD) is an external device capable of automatic detection and treatment of ventricular tachycardia (VT)/ventricular fibrillation (VF). We examined whether WCD use for patients at high risk for VT/VF is associated with shortening the length of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) and safe management in the general ward until implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation.
  From June 2012 to May 2014, ICD was implanted in 44 patients for secondary prevention of VT/VF (control group). From June 2014 to May 2016, WCD was prescribed in 50 patients for secondary prevention, of which 29 patients had ICD implantation (WCD group). The median length (25th-75th percentiles) of the ICU stay was 3 (1–7) days in the control and 0 (0-1.5) days in the WCD group (p<0.05). The period until ICD implantation in the general ward was 0 (0–3) days in the control and 10 (5–19) days in the WCD group (p<0.05). No sudden cardiac death and no readmission to the ICU were reported in both groups before ICD implantation.
  In patients with indication for ICD implantation for secondary prevention, WCD use can shorten the length of ICU stay and provide a safe management in a general ward.