Clinical trial NCT01905007: Study of Defibrillation Testing In Patients Undergoing Initial ICD Implantation
Official title: "Test-No Test" Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Pilot Study (TNT-ICD)
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: PHASE4
Conditions: Ventricular Arrhythmias
Keywords: Implantable cardioverter defibrillator
Defibrillation threshold testing
Lead sponsor: The Cooper Health System
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Medtronic
name: University of Washington
First posted: 2013-07-22
Enrollment: 100
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The primary objective of this study is to compare the composite outcome of total mortality and operative complications in patients who do not undergo defibrillation testing to those who do undergo defibrillation testing at the time of initial ICD implantation.

Detailed description: Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are the most effective treatment for the primary and secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death (SCD). At the time of ICD implantation, ventricular fibrillation (VF) is typically induced to demonstrate effective arrhythmia termination by the implanted device. Although defibrillation threshold (DFT) testing with induction of VF at time of ICD insertion is currently considered the "standard of care," and instructions for usage of devices approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) include labeling with DFT testing, the value of defibrillation testing with modern-day devices has been questioned. Defibrillation testing can be associated with serious complications and may add to the cost of the procedure.

It is hypothesized that patients who do not undergo defibrillation testing will have outcomes similar to those who do undergo defibrillation testing at the time of initial implantation. This pilot study is being performed to determine the feasibility of performing a larger, multi-center clinical trial with longer follow-up to investigate whether or not defibrillation testing will have any impact on overall mortality, implant complications, or long-term first shock efficacy during clinical follow-up.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Age ≥ 18 years
* Initial ICD implantation (single, dual, or CRT) for a standard Class I or Class II indication according to the ACC/AHA/HRS practice guidelines
* Anticipated life expectancy \>6 months

Exclusion Criteria:

* Contraindications to defibrillation testing as determined by the managing physician\*
* ICD replacement implants
* Right-sided pectoral implants
* Abdominal implants
* Chronic oral amiodarone therapy (for \>6 weeks and continued need for amiodarone)
* Inability to give informed consent

  * Contraindications to defibrillation testing include the following: hemodynamic instability, LA thrombus, atrial fibrillation without adequate anticoagulation, LV thrombus, recent CVA or TIA, severe unrevascularized coronary artery disease or unstable angina, severe aortic stenosis, inotropic dependence, patient refusal, other patient-specific medical conditions that are deemed as contraindications, as determined by the implanting physician.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Composite all-cause mortality and operative complications
timeFrame: Procedure-related complications will be defined as those occurring within 90 days post-implantation and mortality will be measured at 2 year follow-up
Secondary outcomes:
measure: 1st shock efficacy for clinical occurrence of ventricular tachycardia (VT)/VF
timeFrame: 2 years
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Camden
country: United States
facility: Cooper University Hospital
state: New Jersey
city: Seattle
country: United States
facility: University of Washington
state: Washington
Study officials:
affiliation: The Cooper Health System
name: Andrea M. Russo, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Russo AM, Sauer W, Gerstenfeld EP, Hsia HH, Lin D, Cooper JM, Dixit S, Verdino RJ, Nayak HM, Callans DJ, Patel V, Marchlinski FE. Defibrillation threshold testing: is it really necessary at the time of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator insertion? Heart Rhythm. 2005 May;2(5):456-61. doi: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2005.01.015.
citation: Swerdlow CD, Russo AM, Degroot PJ. The dilemma of ICD implant testing. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 2007 May;30(5):675-700. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-8159.2007.00730.x.
citation: Mainigi SK, Cooper JM, Russo AM, Nayak HM, Lin D, Dixit S, Gerstenfeld EP, Hsia HH, Callans DJ, Marchlinski FE, Verdino RJ. Elevated defibrillation thresholds in patients undergoing biventricular defibrillator implantation: incidence and predictors. Heart Rhythm. 2006 Sep;3(9):1010-6. doi: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2006.05.028. Epub 2006 Jun 15.
citation: Blatt JA, Poole JE, Johnson GW, Callans DJ, Raitt MH, Reddy RK, Marchlinski FE, Yee R, Guarnieri T, Talajic M, Wilber DJ, Anderson J, Chung K, Wong WS, Mark DB, Lee KL, Bardy GH; SCD-HeFT Investigators. No benefit from defibrillation threshold testing in the SCD-HeFT (Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial). J Am Coll Cardiol. 2008 Aug 12;52(7):551-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2008.04.051.
citation: Birnie D, Tung S, Simpson C, Crystal E, Exner D, Ayala Paredes FA, Krahn A, Parkash R, Khaykin Y, Philippon F, Guerra P, Kimber S, Cameron D, Healey JS. Complications associated with defibrillation threshold testing: the Canadian experience. Heart Rhythm. 2008 Mar;5(3):387-90. doi: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2007.11.018. Epub 2007 Nov 28.
citation: Pires LA, Johnson KM. Intraoperative testing of the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator: how much is enough? J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2006 Feb;17(2):140-5. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-8167.2005.00294.x.