Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices in Adults with Tetralogy of Fallot

Patient with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) sometimes require cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED) for tachy/bradyarrhythmias. There are no population-based studies of CIED-related outcomes in the adult TOF population. We reviewed the Nationwide/National Inpatient Sample to determine trends in CIED-related admissions in adults with TOF repair. This is a retrospective review of the Nationwide/National Inpatient Sample database from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2014. There were 18,353 admissions in adults with TOF diagnosis, and of these, CIED were implanted in 792 (4.3%) admissions (CIED-related admissions). Of these 792 CIED-related admissions, pacemakers were implanted in 242 (30.7%) yielding an incidence of 1.3% and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators were implanted in 550 (69.4%) yielding an incidence of 3.0%. In-hospital mortality occurred in 14 (1.8%) of the CIED-related admissions. The mean hospital length of stay was 7.7 ± 1.3 days and inflation-adjusted hospitalization cost was $141,860 ± $127,516. In 5-year intervals (2000 to 2004, 2005 to 2009, and 2010 to 2014), there was a temporal increase in the incidence of CIED-related admissions (3.7% vs 4.4% vs 4.9%, p = 0.006). There was a similar trend in the age at the time of implantation (37.7 ± 14.2 vs 38.2 ± 13.1 vs 39.0 ± 14.5 years, p < 0.001) and Charlson Comorbidity Index (1.1 ± 1.4 vs 1.4 ± 1.8 vs 1.3 ± 1.7, p < 0.001). In conclusion, the incidence of CIED-related admissions was 4.3% and increased over time. Further studies are required to determine if the observed temporal increase in incidence of CIED implantations (particularly implantable cardioverter-defibrillators) is associated with a concomitant increase in incidence of aborted sudden cardiac death.