Cardiac Rhythm Monitoring After Acute Decompensation for Heart Failure: Results from the CARRYING ON for HF Pilot Study

BACKGROUND: There’s scarce evidence about cardiovascular events (CV) in patients with hospitalization for acute heart failure (HF) and no indication for immediate device implant. OBJECTIVE: The CARdiac RhYthm monitorING after acute decompensatiON for Heart Failure study was designed to assess the incidence of prespecified clinical and arrhythmic events in this patient population. METHODS: In this pilot study, 18 patients (12 (67%) male; age 72±10; 16 (89%) NYHA II-III), who were hospitalized for HF with low left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (<40%) and no immediate indication for device implant received an implantable loop recorder (ILR) before hospital discharge. Follow-up visits were scheduled at 3 and 6 months, and at every 6 months until study closure; device data were remotely reviewed monthly. CV mortality, unplanned CV hospitalization, and major arrhythmic events during follow-up were analyzed. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 593 days, major CV occurred in 13 patients (72%); of those, 7 patients had at least 1 cardiac arrhythmic event, 2 had at least a clinical event (CV hospitalization or CV death), and 4 had both an arrhythmic and a CV event. Six (33%) patients experienced 10 major clinical events, 5 of them (50%) were HF related. During follow-up, 2 (11%) patients died due to a CV cause and 3 (16%) patients received a permanent cardiac device. CONCLUSIONS: After an acute HF hospitalization, patients with LVEF<40% and who are not readily eligible for permanent cardiac device implant have a known high incidence of major CV event. In these patients, ILR allows early detection of major cardiac arrhythmias and the ability to react appropriately in a timely manner. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01216670; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01216670