Sex-Specific Ventricular Arrhythmias and Mortality in Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Recipients

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Electrophysiology
• Medical Devices

Background:

• Limited research exists on sex-specific benefits of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).
• Data on sex differences in ventricular tachyarrhythmias among CRT-D recipients are scarce.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate sex-related differences in ventricular arrhythmia incidence and mortality in patients with CRT-D.
• To evaluate the impact of sex on outcomes following CRT-D implantation.

Main Methods:

• A multicenter retrospective study analyzed 460 patients (105 female, 355 male) from the UMBRELLA national registry.
• Patients with CRT-D were followed via remote monitoring for a median of 2.2 years.
• Analysis focused on sex differences in treated ventricular arrhythmias and mortality, particularly in primary prevention patients.

Main Results:

• Women presented with worse baseline functional class but had less ischemic heart disease.
• Female sex was an independent predictor of lower ventricular arrhythmia incidence (HR: 0.40; 95% CI: 0.19-0.86).
• All-cause mortality was lower in women (2.9%) compared to men (5.6%), though not statistically significant (p=0.25).

Conclusions:

• Women with left bundle branch block receiving CRT have a reduced rate of ventricular tachyarrhythmias compared to men.
• All-cause mortality appears similar between female and male CRT-D recipients.