Reduction in long-term mortality using remote device monitoring in a large real-world population of patients with implantable defibrillators

Aims Remote monitoring (RM) for implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) is advocated for the potential of early detection of disease progression and device dysfunction. While studies have examined the effect of RM on clinical outcomes in carefully selected populations of heart failure patients implanted with ICDs from a single vendor, there is a paucity of data in real-world patients. We aimed to assess the long-term effect of RM in a representative ICD population using real-world data. Methods and results This is an observational retrospective longitudinal study of 1004 patients implanted with an ICD or cardiac resynchronization therapy device (CRT-D) from all device vendors between 2010 and 2021. Patients started on RM (N = 403) within 90 days following de novo device implantation and yearly in-office visits were compared with patients with only bi-yearly in-office follow-up (non-RM, N = 601). In a propensity score matched cohort of 430 patients (mean age 61.4 +/- 14.3 years, 26.7% female), all-cause mortality at 4-year was 12.6% in the RM and 27.7% in the non-RM group [hazard ratio (HR) 0.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.32-0.82; P = 0.005]. No difference in inappropriate ICD-therapy (HR 1.90, 95% CI 0.86-4.21; P = 0.122) was observed. The risk of appropriate ICD-therapy (HR 1.71, 95% CI 1.07-2.74; P = 0.026) was higher in the RM group. Conclusion Remote monitoring was associated with a reduction in long-term all-cause and cardiac mortality compared with traditional office visits in a real-world ICD population.