Geographic and Temporal Variation in Cardiac Implanted Electric Devices to Treat Heart Failure.

ABSTRACT: Cardiac implantable electric devices are commonly used to treat heart failure. Little is known about temporal and geographic variation in use of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) devices in usual care settings. We identified new CRT with pacemaker (CRT-P) or defibrillator generators (CRT-D) implanted between 2008 and 2013 in the United States from a commercial claims database. For each implant, we characterized prior medication use, comorbidities, and geography. Among 17 780 patients with CRT devices (median age 69, 31% women), CRT-Ps were a small and increasing share of CRT devices, growing from 12% to 20% in this study period. Compared to CRT-D recipients, CRT-P recipients were older (median age 76 versus 67), and more likely to be female (40% versus 30%). Pre-implant use of β-bloc

SUBMITTER: Hatfield LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5015279 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature