Risk of death without appropriate defibrillator shock in patients with advanced renal dysfunction

Heart failure patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) may experience an increased rate of non-arrhythmic mortality due to associated comorbidities. We aimed to evaluate the risk of mortality without appropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) shocks in this high-risk population.

The study population comprised 3542 patients who received an ICD, were enrolled, and prospectively followed-up in the Israeli ICD registry. Study patients were categorized into two groups: those with advanced CKD [defined by a glomerular filtration rate of <30 mL/min/1.73 m² or being on dialysis at time of implantation (n = 197)], and those without advanced CKD (n = 3344). The primary endpoint was the risk of death without receiving appropriate ICD shock. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed that at 5 years of follow-up the rates of death without prior ICD shock were significantly higher in the advanced kidney disease group (46%) compared with the non-advanced CKD group (19%; log-rank P-value <0.001). Consistently, multivariate analysis showed that the risk of death without receiving appropriate ICD shock therapy at 5 years was 2.5-fold (P < 0.001) higher among advanced CKD patients. In contrast, the rate of appropriate ICD shock therapy at 5 years among advanced CKD patients was only 9%, with a very high mortality rate (63%) within 3.5 years subsequent to shock therapy.

Nearly one-half of ICD with advanced CKD die within 5 years without receiving an appropriate ICD shock. These findings stress the importance of appropriate patient selection for primary ICD implantation in this high-risk population.