Geographic differences of pacemaker implant rates in Europe.
BACKGROUND
Pacemaker therapy, which has proved to be the only treatment for symptomatic bradyarrhythmias, exhibits great variation from country to country around the world. The aim of this study was to examine the variations in the number of first implants per calendar year in different European countries and to relate the differences to certain socioeconomic indices.


RESULTS
Information concerning new pacemaker implants during the year 1999 was obtained from the European Pacemaker Registry, which is maintained by the Working Group of Cardiac Pacing of the European Society of Cardiology. Comparisons of pacemaker and econometric indices between western and eastern Europe were carried out using the t-test. Correlations between selected pacemaker parameters and econometric indices were examined using univariate and multivariate regression analysis. Our findings reveal significant geographic differences in both the number of first implants and the types of pacemaker implanted. The gross domestic product is strongly related to the number of new pacemaker implants per year, as well as the number of pacing centers in individual countries.


CONCLUSIONS
Significant geographic variations exist within Europe as to the number of annual pacemaker implants and the types of pacemakers implanted. These variations are related to specific economic indices in the countries concerned.
Vardas
Panos E
PE
Cardiology Department, Heraklion University Hospital, Crete, Greece. cardio@med.uoc.gr
Ovsyscher
Eli I
EI
D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005061:Europe, Eastern / Q000453:epidemiology; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors