No routine defibrillation threshold testing in all implantable cardioverter-defibrilator recipients – Still a question?

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##

Published Jul 2, 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22551/2017.15.0402.10099
Dan Nicolae Tesloianu Andreea Maria Ursaru Radu Nicolae Ciudin

Abstract

Nowadays the standard care for patients at high risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) or life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias is the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and its variants (S-ICD, CRT-D). Although in the past ICD implantation was associated with routine defibrillation threshold (DFT) testing, recently more and more centers worldwide are abandoning DFT testing, considering the balance between the clinical benefit and increased procedural risks. In spite of this new approach, the usefulness/ suitability of DFT testing – the “to test or not to test” debate – still remains a matter of intense dispute among cardiologists. We present a brief history of ICDs and DFT testing along with the results of key/compelling studies on DFT testing and the management of patients with a high defibrillation threshold.

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##

Keywords

defibrillation threshold testing, shock energy, arrhythmia cessation, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator

References
1. Mirowski M, Mower MM, Staewen WS, Tabatznik B, Mendeloff AI. Standby automatic defibrillator. An approach to prevention of sudden coronary death. Arch Intern Med 1970; 126:158-161.
2. Mirowski M, Reid PR, Mower MM, et al. Termination of malignant ventricular arrhythmias with an implanted automatic defibrillator in human beings. N Engl J Med 1980; 303:322-324.
3. Watkins L Jr, Mirowski M, Mower MM, et al. Automatic defibrillation in man. The initial surgical experience. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1981; 82:492-500.
4. Furman S, Kim S. The present status of implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapy. J Cardiovas Electrophysiol 1993; 3:602-625.
5. Bardy GH, Johnson G, Poole JE, et al. A simplified, single-lead unipolar transvenous cardioversion-defibrillation system. Circulation 1993; 88:543-547.
6. Kavanagh K, Tang A, Rollins D, Smith W, Ideker R. Comparison of the internal defibrillation thresholds for monophasic and double and single capacitor biphasic waveforms. J Am Coll Cardiol 1989, 14:1343-1349.
7. Echt DS, et al. Clinical experience, complications, and survival in 70 patients with the automatic implantable cardioverter/defibrillator. Circulation 1985; 71:289.
8. Russo AM, Chung MK. Is defibrillation testing necessary for implantable transvenous defibrillators? defibrillation testing is necessary at the time of implantable cardioverter defibrillator implantation. Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol 2014; 7:337-346.
9. Rizkallah J, Exner DV. Clinical cardiac pacing, defibrillation and resynchronization therapy, 5th Ed. Elsevier 2017; 718-739.
10. Hayes D, Asirvatham S, Friedman P, et al. Cardiac pacing defibrillation and resynchronization. A clinical approach. Third Edition, 2013.
11. Birnie D, Tung S, Simpson C et al. Complications associated with defibrillation threshold testing: The Canadian experience. Heart Rhythm 2008, 5:387–390.
12. Bänsch D. Defibrillation testing during defibrillator implantation. Arrhythmia & Electrophysiology Review 2012; 1:51–53.
13. Vamos M, Healey JS, Wang J. Troponin levels after ICD implantation with and without defibrillation testing and their predictive value for outcomes: Insights from the SIMPLE trial. Heart Rhythm 2016; 13:504-510.
14. Kempa M, Królak T, Drelich L, et al. Pre-discharge defibrillation testing: Is it still justified? Cardiology Journal 2016, 23:532–538.
15. Birgersdotter-Green U, Undesser K, Fujimura O, et al. Correlation of acute and chronic defibrillation threshold with upper limit of vulnerability determined in normal sinus rhythm. J Interv Card Electrophysiol 1999; 3:155-161.
16. Zienciuk A, Lubiński A, Królak T et al. Effects of shock polarity reversal on defibrillation threshold in an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. Kardiol Pol 2007; 65:495-500.
17. Simon RD, Sturdivant JL, Leman RB, Wharton JM, Gold MR. The effect of dofetilide on ventricular defibrillation thresholds. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol 2009; 32:24-28.
18. Kanjwal K, Mainigi S. Defibrillation Threshold Testing: A primer. J Innov Card Rhythm Manag 2012; 3:5–15
19. Kommuri N, Kollepara SL, Saulitis E, Siddiqui MA. Azygos vein lead implantation for high defibrillation thresholds in implantable cardioverter defibrillator placement. Indian Pacing Electrophysiol J 2010; 10:49–54.
20. Strickberger SA, Klein G. Is defibrillation testing required for defibrillator implantation? J Am Coll Cardiol 2004; 44:88–91.
21. Russo AM, Sauer W, Gerstenfeld EP et al. Defibrillation threshold testing: is it really necessary at the time of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator insertion? Heart Rhythm 2005; 2:456-461.
22. Swerdlow CD, Russo AM, Degroot PJ. The dilemma of ICD implants testing. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol 2007; 30:675-700.
23. Viskin S, Rosso R. The top 10 reasons to avoid defibrillation threshold testing during ICD implantation. Heart Rhythm 2008; 5:391-393
24. Markowitz SM. To test or not to test during defibrillator implantation? A reassessment of the conventional wisdom. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol 2008; 19:406-408.
25. Gula LJ, Massel D, Krahn AD et al. Is defibrillation testing still necessary? A decision analysis and Markov model. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol 2008; 19:400-405.
26. Taneja T, Goldberger J, Johnson D, et al. Is all ventricular fibrillation the same? (Influence of mode of induction on characteristics of ventricular fibrillation). J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol 2000; 11:1355–1363.
27. Bardy G, Lee K, Mark D. Amiodarone or an implantable cardioverter–defibrillator for congestive heart failure. N Engl J Med 2005; 352:225-237.
28. Madhavan M, Friedman P. Optimal programming of implantable cardiac-defibrillators. Circulation 2013; 128:659-672
29. Bardy GH, Lee K., Mark DB, et al. Amiodarone or an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator for congestive heart failure. N Engl J Med 2005; 352:225–237
30. Blatt J, Poole J, Johnson Get al. No benefit from defibrillation threshold testing in the SCD-HeFT (Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial). J Am Coll Cardiol 2008; 52: 551-556;
31. Brignole M, Occhetta E, Bongiorni MG et al. Clinical evaluation of defibrillation testing in an unselected population of 2,120 consecutive patients undergoing first implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implant. J Am Coll Cardiol 2012; 11:981–987.
32. Healey J, Hohnloser S, Glikson M et al. Cardioverter defibrillator implantation without induction of ventricular fibrillation: a single-blind, non-inferiority, randomised controld trial (SIMPLE) Lancet 2015; 385:785-791.
33. Bänsch D, Bonnemeier H, Brandt J et al. Intra-operative defibrillation testing and clinical shock efficacy in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators: the NORDIC ICD randomized clinical trial. Eur Heart J 2015; 36:2500-2507.
34. Wilkoff B, Fauchier L, Stiles M, et al. 2015 HRS/EHRA/APHRS/SOLAECE expert consensus statement on optimal implantable cardioverter-defibrillator programming and testing. Heart Rhythm 2016; 13(2):e50-86.
35. Phan K, Ha H, Kabunga P, et al. Systematic review of defibrillation threshold testing at de novo implantation. Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol 2016; 9:e003357.
36. Francia P, Adduci C, Semprini L. Prognostic implications of defibrillation threshold testing in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol 2017; 28:103-108.
37. Ashino S, Nakai T, Sonoda K, et al. Assessment of efficacy and necessity of routine defibrillation threshold testing in patients undergoing Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD) implantation. Int Heart J 2015; 56:618-621.
38. Arnson Y, Suleiman M, Glikson M et al. Role of defibrillation threshold testing during implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placement: data from the Israeli ICD Registry. Heart Rhythm 2014; 11:814-821.
39. Gamble J. Shall we do a DFT? A clinical review of defibrillation threshold testing in 2014. British Heart Rhythm Society Editorial, 2014.
40. Modi HH, Aeriachaipanich A, Bhan A, Duggal M. Routine DFT testing: is it necessary during ICD generator replacement? In Proceedings of 15th World Congress in Heart Disease, Annual Scientific Session 2010, Canada.
41. Singh M, Akar J, Cytron J. Value of routine DFT testing at time of ICD pulse generator replacement. In Proceedings of 14th World Congress in Heart Disease, Annual Scientific Session 2008, Canada.
How to Cite
Tesloianu, D. N., Ursaru, A. M., & Ciudin, R. N. (2017). No routine defibrillation threshold testing in all implantable cardioverter-defibrilator recipients – Still a question?. Archive of Clinical Cases, 4(2), Arch Clin Cases 2017; 4(2):88-96. https://doi.org/10.22551/2017.15.0402.10099
Issue
Vol. 4 No. 2 (2017): Arrhythmology
Section
Case Reports

Archive of Clinical Cases is protected by copyright and may be used in accordance with copyright and other applicable laws. Content available at www.clinicalcases.eu and our digital applications is intended for personal noncommercial use.

Authors who submit a manuscript for publication in Archive of Clinical Cases agree to the following terms: a. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. b. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. c. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) only after the final version of the manuscript was accepted and published, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access). d. It is compulsory that before submission authors ensure that their work was not published in any other medical journals or pending acceptance for publication and that "Archives of Clinical Cases" is the only beneficiary at that moment if their work/case will be accepted by us.

Guidelines for linking to www.clinicalcases.eu a. The main purpose of the site linking to the Archive of Clinical Casess site should be educational. b. Links should be made to the Archive of Clinical Casess home page (www.clinicalcases.eu) or to the articles abstract. c. It is forbidden to use the Archive of Clinical Casess cover by outside organizations unless permission has been granted in advance, notifying our Secretary. d. Material owned by the Archive of Clinical Cases (including the name, logo, cover, and text) may not be used in any manner that may induce the idea or suggest that the Archive of Clinical Cases is in some way recommending a specific company, product or service. e. You must not use or allow others to access or use, all or any part of our Site or the contents and/or applications on it for commercial purposes without our permission. To seek permission to do anything prohibited by or not contained in these TERMS, or which requires our prior consent or agreement, you can contact us.

How to Cite

Tesloianu, D. N., Ursaru, A. M., & Ciudin, R. N. (2017). No routine defibrillation threshold testing in all implantable cardioverter-defibrilator recipients – Still a question?. Archive of Clinical Cases, 4(2), Arch Clin Cases 2017; 4(2):88-96. https://doi.org/10.22551/2017.15.0402.10099