Background: The gold standard for the treatment of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs)-related infection and lead malfunction is transvenous lead extraction (TLE). To date, the risk of mortality directly related to TLE procedures is relatively low, but data on post-procedural and long-term mortality are limited, even more in the aging population.
Methods: Consecutive patients with CIEDs who underwent TLE were retrospectively studied. The primary outcome was the endpoint of death, considering independent predictors of long-term clinical outcomes in the TLE aging population comparing patients with and without infection.
Results: One hundred nineteen patients (male 77%; median age 76 years) were included in the analysis. Eighty-two patients (69%) documented infection, and thirty-seven (31%) were extracted for a different reason. Infected patients were older (80 vs. 68 years, p-value > 0.001) with more implanted catheters (p-value < 0.001). At the last follow-up (FU) available (median FU 4.1 years), mortality reached 37% of the patient population, showing a statistically significant difference between infected versus non-infected groups. At univariable analysis, age at TLE, atrial fibrillation, and anemia remained significant correlates of mortality; at multivariable analysis, only patients with anemia and atrial fibrillation have a 2.3-fold (HR 2.34; CI 1.16-4.75) and a 2.5-fold (HR 2.46; CI 1.33-4.54) increased rate of death, respectively.
Conclusion: Our long-term data showed that aging patients who underwent TLE for CIED-related infection exhibit a high mortality risk during a long-term follow-up, potentially leading to a rapid and effective procedural approach in this patient population.
Keywords: aging population; device infection; lead extraction; lead malfunction.