Pacemaker implantation complication rates in elderly and young patients

Abstract

AimsTo evaluate the complication rate differences between elderly and younger patients who receive a permanent pacemaker implantation.MethodsWe reviewed all cases admitted to our institution between January 2008 and June 2009 with symptomatic bradyarrhythmia for whom a permanent pacemaker was implanted. Beginning in June 2009, we prospectively collected data from all patients with the same diagnosis and procedure. The frequency of complications due to the pacemaker implantation procedure was evaluated and compared between young (<70 years old) and elderly (≥70 years old) patients.ResultsAmong 574 patients with a permanent pacemaker, 259 patients (45.1%) were below and 315 patients (54.9%) were above or at 70 years of age. There were 240 (92.7%) and 19 (7.3%) dual-chamber pacemaker (DDD) and single-chamber pacemaker (VVI) implanted patients in the younger group, and 291 (76.8%) and 73 (23.2%) DDD and VVI pacemaker implanted patients in the elderly group, respectively. The complication rate was 39 (15.1%) out of 259 young patients and 24 (7.6%) out of 315 elderly patients. Postprocedural complications were statistically lower in the elderly patients than in younger patients (P = 0.005).ConclusionA pacemaker implantation performed by an experienced operator is a safe procedure for patients of advanced age. The patients who are above 70 years old may have less complication rates than the younger patients.

Procedural safety and long‐term follow‐up after pacemaker implantation in nonagenarians

“…Similarly, very elderly patients did not seem to have more complications than younger patients in other studies . On the contrary, Ozcan et al demonstrated that the complication rate for elderly patients who had a permanent PM implantation was statistically lower than in patients who were <70 years . However, in the largest epidemiologic study published so far about PM implantations, in the nonagenarians subgroup, including more than 12 000 patients from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample administrative database, Mandawat et al demonstrated 1.87% and 6.31% mortality and complication rates, respectively, modestly but significantly more than in septuagenarians and octogenarians.…”

Permanent Pacing in Nonagenarians Over 20‐Year Period

“…Implantation of permanent pacemaker in the elderly has been reported to have higher complications rates than in younger patients; however, other researchers found that the rate of implant complications is comparable to and even less than that of younger patients.…”

Recurrent, late-onset pleural effusions in elderly patients receiving pacemaker therapy

“…Pacemaker implantation is performed for bradyarrhythmia patients of all ages, especially in the elderly population. [ 6 ] Approximately 70% to 80% of all pacemaker implantations are done for patients older than 65 years of age. [ 6 ] Fifteen percent of pacemakers in use are replacements, of which one fifth have been replaced more than twice.…”

“…[ 6 ] Approximately 70% to 80% of all pacemaker implantations are done for patients older than 65 years of age. [ 6 ] Fifteen percent of pacemakers in use are replacements, of which one fifth have been replaced more than twice. [ 7 ] Although this procedure is safe, elderly subjects may have more postprocedural complications than younger subjects.…”

“…[ 7 ] Although this procedure is safe, elderly subjects may have more postprocedural complications than younger subjects. [ 6 ] Because of age-related physiological changes in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems, the adverse consequences of atrioventricular (AV) desynchronization should be more obvious and more common in older patients. [ 8 ] In this series, all cases were elderly subjects with a median age of 81 years.…”