The medical benefits of the implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) are well established, but ICD shocks are known to influence patient-centered outcomes. In this viewpoint, we examine the strength of the evidence as found in primary and secondary prevention trials that used quality of life as an outcome, and compare the influence of ICD shock with other factors (e.g., heart failure and psychological factors) as determinants of outcomes, with a view to providing recommendations for clinical practice and future research. Based on the large-scale primary and secondary prevention trials (i.e., CABG-PATCH, CIDS, AVID, AMIOVIRT, SCD-HeFT, MADIT-II, and DEFINITE), evidence for an association between ICD shocks and quality of life is mixed, with some indication that the influence of shocks may depend largely on the interval between shocks and assessment of quality of life. In order to improve the clinical management of ICD patients, we need to adopt a more rigorous and standardized methodology in future studies in order to be able to draw firm conclusions about the impact of ICD shocks on individual patients. We also need to acknowledge that the impact of shocks on psychological functioning and quality of life may not be as straightforward as previously assumed. Given that programming of the ICD is changing, leading to fewer shocks and improved quality of life, it may be timely to also examine the influence of other determinants (e.g., heart failure progression and the patient's psychological profile) of patient-centered outcomes both in research and in clinical practice.

Partners had higher levels of anxiety but not depression than ICD patients. Partner distress could be attributed not only to the partner's personality, but also to patient clinical characteristics, primarily secondary prophylaxis for ICD therapy. These results indicate that information on the clinical characteristics of the patient in addition to partner characteristics may help identify partners at risk of distress.

BackgroundFalls are one of the main causes of fractures in elderly people and after a recent fracture, the risk of another fall is increased, resulting in subsequent fracture. Therefore, risk factors for future falls should be determined. We prospectively investigated the relationship between depression and the incidence of falls in post-menopausal women after a low-energy fracture.MethodsAt baseline, 181 women aged 60 years and older who presented with a recent low-energy fracture were evaluated at the fracture and osteoporosis outpatient clinics of two hospitals. As well as clinical evaluation and bone mineral density tests, the presence of depression (measured using the Edinburgh Depression Scale, EDS, depression cut-off > 11) and risk factors for falling were assessed. During two years of follow-up, the incidence of falls was registered annually by means of detailed questionnaires and interviews.ResultsSeventy-nine (44%) of the women sustained at least one fall during follow-up. Of these, 28% (n = 22) suffered from depression at baseline compared to 10% (n = 10) of the 102 women who did not sustain a fall during follow-up (Χ2 = 8.76, df = 1, p = .003). Multiple logistic regression showed that the presence of depression and co-morbidity at baseline were independently related to falls (OR = 4.13, 95% CI = 1.58-10.80; OR = 2.25, 95% CI = 1.11-4.56, respectively) during follow-up.ConclusionsThe presence of depression in women aged 60 years and older with recent low-energy fractures is an important risk factor for future falls. We propose that clinicians treating patients with recent low-energy fractures should anticipate not only on skeletal-related risk factors for fractures, but also on fall-related risk factors including depression.

Device advisories due to potential hardware failure comprise one of the downsides of implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy. The impact of advisories on patient-centered outcomes has largely been overlooked. We examined the impact of ICD advisories on patient-centered outcomes via a systematic literature review. PubMed was searched in the period from 1980 to present using a combination of at set of a priori search terms. The reference lists of the included papers were searched by hand. A total of six studies were identified. All advisories were Class I, Class II, or a combination. The sample size across studies varied between 30 and 86 patients subject to an advisory; four of six studies used a case-control design and two of six a prospective study design. There was considerable variability between notification of the advisory and assessment of the patient-centered outcomes, ranging from 1 to 24 months. A mixture of generic and disease-specific patient-centered outcome measures was used. The evidence for an impact on device advisories was mixed, with the two prospective studies showing an increase in anxiety over time, whereas none of the larger case-control studies found a difference in patient-centered outcomes between cases and controls. Evidence for an impact of device advisories on patient-centered outcomes is mixed. In order to incorporate a patient-centered approach in clinical care, patient-centered outcomes should form part of standard clinical practice and if available the assessments entered into ICD registries. Such registries would provide important insights into the impact of ICD advisories on patients' well being.

The results of LNF in a limited number of patients with severe and/or resistant gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) receiving continuous medical treatment with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) on a maintenance base are comparable with LNF results in centers with a more liberal policy concerning indications for LNF surgery.