Conclusions
The current study found that the incidence rate of any ventricular
arrhythmia during the first 45 days of COVID-19 epidemic outbreak was
9.9% and only a minority of patients required therapy from ICD. There
was no evidence of a significant increase in the arrhythmic burden
during the study period if compared to the same period in previous year.
The main predictor of arrhythmic events was previous history of any
device therapy, especially within the previous 12 months. The present
study provides an important contribution to knowledge of the impact of
COVID-19 on cardiovascular health, and specifically cardiac arrhythmias,
among patients with a history of heart disease.
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Figure legend
Figure 1: The diagram shows the study population’s selection process;
ICD: Implantable cardioverter defibrillator; CRTD: Cardiac
resynchronization therapy-defibrillator; S-ICD: Subcutaneous implantable
cardioverter defibrillator; PPM : Permanent pace-maker; CRTP: Cardiac
resynchronization therapy- pace-maker; ICM: implantable cardiac monitor.
Figure 2: Incidence rates (percentages) of ventricular arrhythmias and
ICD therapy among study population and reference population; VA –
Ventricular Arrhythmias, VT – Ventricular tachycardia, VF –
Ventricular Fibrillation, ATP – Anti-Tachycardia Pacing.
Figure 1