Influence of Atrial Fibrillation on Two-Year Survival of Patients with Implanted Cardioverter Defibrillator

Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) effectively reduce risk of sudden cardiac death in both primary and secondary prevention, but only a small proportion of patients included in the clinical trials had atrial fibrillation. It is still unclear whether patients with atrial fibrillation have the same benefit from ICD implantation as patients in sinus rhythm. This is a clinical, prospective study which included 210 patients in the period 2014-2018. ICD was implanted in the Clinical Center Kragujevac and a two-year follow-up was performed. Patients were divided into 2 groups: a group in sinus rhythm and a group of patients with atrial fibrillation (paroxysmal, persistent and permanent). At the end of the two-year follow-up, there was no difference in survival between the compared groups. The total number of cardioverter defibrillator activations did not differ between the groups, but a significantly higher number of inappropriate cardioverter defibrillator activations was registered in the group with atrial fibrillation. In most patients who had inappropriate defibrillator activation during the two-year follow-up, appropriate defibrillator activation was also registered.