Heart failure & cardiomyopathiesMeta-analysis
Ventricular arrhythmias following left ventricular assist device implantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of incidence and clinical impact
- Systematic review and meta-analysis
PubMed/Embase/Cochrane searched from inception to 1 April 2025
Authors' conclusion
Ventricular arrhythmias are frequent following LVAD implantation and are associated with a significant impact on all-cause mortality-particularly when occurring early after implantation.
Study context
- Population
- Patients after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation
- Participants
- 22,181 patients · 40 studies
- Outcome
- Overall incidence of VAs
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Overall incidence of post-LVAD VAs
Overall incidence of post-LVAD ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) (events per 100 person-months)
2.43 (1.70-3.48)
Further pooled results
All-cause mortality with VA occurrence
| Comparison | IRR (CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Ventricular arrhythmia occurrence · all-cause mortality | 1.32 (1.11–1.57) | |
| 0.512Incidence rate ratio (log scale) |
Early VAs (≤30 days): incidence and mortality
| Comparison | IRR (CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| early VAs · mortality | 1.40 (1.18–1.67) | |
| 0.512Incidence rate ratio (log scale) |
Late VAs (>30 days): incidence and mortality
| Comparison | IRR (CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| late VAs · mortality; not significant | 0.85 (0.66–1.10) | |
| 0.512Incidence rate ratio (log scale) |
Electrical storm: incidence and all-cause mortality
| Comparison | IRR (CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical storm · all-cause mortality | 1.34 (1.01–1.79) | |
| 0.512Incidence rate ratio (log scale) |
- Early VAs (≤30 days): incidence and mortality — Incidence of early VAs, events per 100 person-days
- 0.65 (0.48-0.88)
- Early VAs (≤30 days): incidence and mortality — Events per 100 patients over 30 days
- 19.5
- Late VAs (>30 days): incidence and mortality — Incidence of late VAs, events per 100 person-months
- 2.05 (1.43-2.93)
- Electrical storm: incidence and all-cause mortality — electrical storm (ES) incidence, events per 100 person-months
- 0.44 (0.07-2.71)
Original publication
Ventricular arrhythmias following left ventricular assist device implantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of incidence and clinical impact. Europace. Published 25 June 2025. doi:10.1093/europace/euaf129
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it