title: Influence of patient characteristics in the selection of patients for defibrillator implantation (the AVID Registry). Antiarrhythmics Versus Implantable Defibrillators.
abstract: The Antiarrhythmics Versus Implantable Defibrillators (AVID) trial is a prospective, randomized study of treatment for life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. Patients who are eligible for the main trial but who are not enrolled for any reason are followed in a registry. The objective of the present study was to determine whether there are identifiable patient characteristics among these registry patients that may influence whether a patient is treated with an implantable defibrillator. The 914 patients in the registry were divided into 2 groups according to whether the primary treatment was an implantable defibrillator. The mean age of defibrillator patients was 60 years, compared with 65 years in the nondefibrillator group (p <0.001). Only 11.2% of defibrillator recipients were minorities, whereas the percentage of minorities in the nondefibrillator group was 18.7% (p <0.003). A history of recurrent ventricular fibrillation was more likely in the group treated with defibrillators (8.9% vs 4.4%, p <0.01), whereas a history of atrial fibrillation or diabetes mellitus were both significantly more likely in the nondefibrillator group. Among defibrillator patients, a higher proportion had ventricular fibrillation as the index arrhythmia; patients with ventricular tachycardia were significantly more likely to be treated without devices. In this prospective but nonrandomized cohort of patients treated for life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias, older age, minority status, and comorbidity reduced the chances that a patient would be treated with a defibrillator.
authors.affiliation: AVID Clinical Trial Center, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Curtis
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Hallstrom
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nath
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Pinski
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wyse
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Cannom
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Renfroe
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000628:therapy*; D015982:Bias; D017147:Defibrillators, Implantable; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018579:Patient Selection; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D012042:Registries; D012107:Research Design