Comparison of Age (<75 Years Versus ≥75 Years) to Risk of Ventricular Tachyarrhythmias and Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Shocks (from the Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial With Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy)

There are limited data regarding the effect of age on the risk of ventricular tachyarrhythmias (VTAs). The present study was designed to compare the risk for VTAs in young and older patients with left bundle branch block (LBBB) and mildly symptomatic heart failure who receive device therapy. The risk of the first ventricular tachycardia (VT) or ventricular fibrillation (VF) event and the risk of first appropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) shock was compared between young (<75 years, n = 1,037) and older (≥75 years, n = 227) patients with LBBB enrolled in Multicenter Automatic Implantation Trial with Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy. The cumulative incidence of a first VTA through 2 years of follow-up was significantly lower in older patients than in younger patients. Multivariate analysis showed that older patients experienced a significantly lower risk of VT/VF (hazard ratio 0.38, 95% confidence interval 0.22 to 0.64, p <0.001) and a significantly lower risk of appropriate ICD shocks (hazard ratio 0.37, 95% confidence interval 0.17 to 0.82, p = 0.014) compared with younger patients. Each increasing decade of life was associated with a 19% (p = 0.002) and 22% (p = 0.018) reduction in the risk of VT/VF and appropriate ICD shocks, respectively. The lower risk of VT/VF and appropriate ICD shocks in older patients was evident in patients implanted with an ICD only and in those implanted with a cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator. In conclusion, in patients with LBBB and mild symptoms of heart failure, aging is associated with a significant decrease in the incidence of VT/VF and ICD shocks.