Impact of atrial fibrillation/flutter on outcomes of patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators: A sub-analysis of the Nippon Storm study.

Abstract Background Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator and cardiac resynchronization therapy using a defibrillator (ICD/CRT-D) are established means of reducing mortality due to ventricular arrhythmia. Although atrial fibrillation/flutter (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia in patients with heart disease, the impact of AF on the prognosis of patients with ICD/CRT-D remains controversial. Methods and Results We analyzed data from the Nippon Storm Study, a prospective observational study of 1570 patients that was conducted at 48 Japanese ICD centers. We allocated 1549 participants to AF and non-AF groups, compared their clinical data at the time of enrollment, and monitored the incidences of mortality, hospitalization, and appropriate and inappropriate ICD/CRT-D therapy during a median 28 months. When the AF (n = 257, 16.6%) and non-AF-(n = 1292, 83.4%) groups were compared, the AF group was older (67.7 vs. 61.4 years; p Conclusion The presence of AF at ICD/CRT-D implantation carries subsequent independent risks of 1.62-fold for death and 2.25-fold for inappropriate therapy.