Temporal Trends and Outcomes of Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators in Heart Failure and Chronic Kidney Disease in the United States

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and hemodi-alysis increase the risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in heart failure (HF); however, national trends in utili-zation and outcomes of implantable cardioverter-defi-brillator (ICD) in this population remain unknown. We sought to evaluate the utilization and outcomes of ICD therapy in HF patients with CKD and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) using the National Inpatient Sample from 2009 to 2018. Hospitalizations with a dis-charge diagnosis of systolic HF and ICD implantation were identified and stratified by stages of kidney dis-ease. A total of 281,219 systolic HF hospitalizations who underwent ICD implantation were included. A significant decrease in inpatient ICD implantation was observed over the past decade (3.7% in 2009 to 1.1% in 2018) regardless of renal impairment. In-hospital mortality was highest in ESRD, followed by CKD com-pared with patients with no CKD. Length of hospital stay and hospitalization costs were also significantly higher in patients with CKD and ESRD. The overall utilization of inpatient ICD implantation has decreased in systolic HF patients and inpatient ICD placement in CKD is associated with an increased risk of mortality and adverse clinical outcomes. This indicates that patients with renal impairment and HF represent a sicker cohort than the general HF popula-tion. (Curr Probl Cardiol 2023;48:101548.)