Telemonitoring Potential of Wearable Cardioverter-Defibrillators during the Follow-Up of Patients with Heart Failure

Christian Blockhaus, Jan Erik Guelker, Ludger Feyen, Alexander Bufe, Melchior Seyfarth, Dong In Shin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Wearable cardioverter-defibrillators (WCDs) are a well-established tool to bridge the recovery time of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) until the implantation of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), as recommended by the current guidelines. Besides their function to detect and treat malignant arrhythmias, WCDs may be used as a telemonitoring system. In this study, we sought to illustrate and discuss the telemonitoring potential of WCDs and to analyze physical activity in specific patient cohorts. Methods and Results: We retrospectively included 140 patients with reduced LVEF who were prescribed WCDs in our clinic. We analyzed the patients’ physical activity (n = 105 with a WCD compliance above 21 h/day), body position and resting position. We found a reduced physical activity in women and in patients over the age of 65 compared to younger patients. Furthermore, the patients who were overweight or obese showed significantly reduced physical activity compared to the patients with a normal weight (6365 ± 3572 vs. 4972 ± 2476 vs. 7045 ± 3521, p = 0.02). Conclusion: WCDs may be used as a telemonitoring and intervention tool in patients with reduced LVEF. Specific patient groups may benefit from guidance from their treating physician regarding physical activity.

Original languageEnglish
Article number175
JournalJournal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease
Volume9
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • heart failure unit
  • physical activity
  • sudden cardiac death
  • telemonitoring
  • wearable cardioverter defibrillator

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