Impact of the Covid19 pandemic on implantable cardiac device implants in Spain. Data from the nationwide Covid 19 RM (remote monitoring) Spain registry
Authors: Garcia-Fernandez F J , Calvo Simal S , Villagraz L , Cano O , Calvo D , Pombo M , Fernandez Lozano I , Martin J , Aguilar Iglesias L , Cantero D 
Published: May 2023

Funding Acknowledgements

Type of funding sources: None.

Background

The Covid-19 pandemic has meant a very significant reduction in all urgent and non-urgent activity, including the implants of Cardiac Implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) throughout 2020. From the end of 2020 and throughout the year 2021, hospital activity has normalised, but it is uncertain whether the devices that were not implanted within 2020 have been delayed in time or actually lost.

Purpose

We sought to evaluate the pre and post-pandemic trends in CIEDs implantations from a large nationwide database in order to determine the global effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on CIEDs implants in Spain.

Methods

The Covid-19 Remote Monitoring Spain Registry (Covid-19 RM-Spain) is a survey supported by the Heart Rhythm Association of the Spanish Society of Cardiology to request the whole national data regarding the number of CIED´s implants and remote monitoring activations from the five main manufacturers classified according to each autonomous community (not by institutions).All data were aggregated and anonymized to analyse the total sample. Appropriate permissions were granted to use the data and a confidentiality agreement was signed in order to avoid any transmission of sensitive information.

Results

No institution objected to the use of their data, so the total number of devices implanted in Spain were obtained, which were 50258, 52994, 47330 and 54490 in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively.

When we try to balance the drop in implants during 2020 and the subsequent increase experienced during 2021 against the average of 2018 and 2019, we have observed that approximately 2600 pacemakers (7%) and about 150 defibrillators (3.1%) have been "lost".

With regard to the rest of the devices, adding up the differences between 2020 and 2021 and comparing them with the average for 2018-19, an increase of 419 Cardiac Resynchronization defibrillators (18%), 130 Cardiac Resynchronization Pacemakers (9.4%) and 1189 Implantable Loop recorders ( 26%) have been observed.

Conclusion(s)

In 2020 there was a large reduction in all CIEDs implants. In the most numerous devices (pacemakers), unlike the rest, the increment has not compensated for the reduction in implants that occurred in 2020 by the end of 2021.

The marked increase in the number of cardiac resynchronization implants may suggest that the indication for single or dual-chamber defibrillator implantation may have finally evolved in a significant number of patients into an indication for cardiac resynchronization.

Abbreviations: CRT-D: Cardiac resynchronization Therapy -Desfibrillator; CRT-P: Cardiac resynchronization Therapy -pacemaker; ICD: Implantable cardiac defibrillators; ILR: Implantable Loop recorders; LLPM: Leadles Pacemakers; PM: Pacemakers; S-ICD: Subcutaneous Implantable cardiac defibrillator.