Pacemaker Therapy in the Elderly and Very Elderly

Background: The number of elderly patients undergoing pacemaker (PM) implantation is constantly growing. However, information on survival and prognostic factors of this particular patient group is scarce. The objective of this study was to determine the survival of elderly and very elderly patients undergoing PM implantation, as well as to investigate prognostic factors of mortality. Methods: This is a retrospective observational study of a single center. Patients ? 80 years of age, that underwent PM implantation between January 2017 and December 2018 in our center, were included for chart review. Very elderly patients were defined as those with ? 90 years of age. Results: A total of 269 patients were included in the study with a mean age of 85 (±4.1) years. 53 patients were ? 90 years of age. 52% of the patients were male. 24.5% of the elderly patients and 41.5% of the very elderly patients received a single chamber PM. Median follow-up time was 28 (14-30) months, with no significant differences between the two groups of patients. The mortality rate for elderly patients was 15.7% for the elderly and 32.1% for the very elderly (p = 0.002). Generating multivariate Cox regression models, the following parameters showed to be significant predictors of all-cause mortality: Age (1.37 (1.02-1.29), p = 0.005), chronic kidney disease (5.57 (2.47-12.56), p<0.001), COPD (3.74 (1.19-11.55), p = 0.023) and cancer (3.57 (1.02-12.51), p = 0.046). In the group of the very elderly only age (1.58 (1.10-2.27), p = 0.014) and cancer (3.76 (2.38-4.18), p = 0.003) significantly predicted mortality. Conclusion: Our study shows a good life expectancy of elderly and very elderly patients that underwent PM implantation, with a survival rate that is comparable to the general population. The primary prognostic factors were non-cardiological and comorbidities, such as chronic kidney disease, cancer and COPD, had a stronger association with mortality than age.