Adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) and left ventricular noncompaction cardiomyopathy (LVNC) may have low complication rates following implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation, according to a study published Aug. 8 in The American Journal of Cardiology.

Marye J. Gleva, MD, FACC, et al., analyzed data submitted to ACC's ICD Registry between April 2010 and March 2015 to determine characteristics of adult CHD and LVNC patients who underwent ICD implantation, as well as the types and rates of in-hospital complications. For CHD patients, subgroups included those with atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect (VSD), tetralogy of Fallot, transposition of the great arteries, Ebstein’s anomaly (EA) and single/common ventricle.

Results showed that 2.3 percent of the 3,077 identified patients experienced complications during or after the procedure, while six patients had more than one complication during hospitalization. Patients with EA had the greatest complication rate at 8.3 percent. VSD patients had a complication rate of 3.2 percent. For all other diagnoses, the complication rate was less than 3 percent. The most frequent in-hospital complication was lead dislodgement, which occurred in 25 patients. Hematomas were the second most frequent complication, occurring in 14 patients, while five patients developed infections.

The authors explain that the overall complication rate of 2.3 percent is "reassuring," especially as earlier research has suggested adult CHD patients experience higher complication rates than other patients undergoing ICD implantation. They conclude that the study findings can inform future discussions regarding ICD implantation in these two patient populations.

Keywords: Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular, Defibrillators, Implantable, Tetralogy of Fallot, Transposition of Great Vessels, Heart Defects, Congenital, Heart Septal Defects, Atrial, Ebstein Anomaly, Registries, Hematoma, Cardiomyopathies, Hospitalization, National Cardiovascular Data Registries, ICD Registry

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