Alqarawi, Wael

Abstract Aims Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a common valvular disorder associated with ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) in a subgroup of patients, known as arrhythmic MVP (AMVP). Arrhythmic MVP patients with malignant VAs typically receive an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) for secondary prevention. However, data regarding the incidence of appropriate ICD therapy and the type of arrhythmia recurrence in this population remain scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of appropriate ICD therapies and type of arrhythmia recurrence in AMVP patients with an ICD implanted for secondary prevention. Methods and results A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed/MEDLINE and EMBASE databases until January 2025. Studies reporting the incidence of appropriate ICD therapy in AMVP patients were included. A total of 9 studies met the inclusion criteria, resulting in 166 AMVP patients with ICDs for secondary prevention. The mean age was 41.8 years, with 55.8% of patients being female. Over a weighted mean follow-up of 4.9 ± 3.1 years, 34.9% [95% confidence interval (CI): 28.1–42.5] of the patients experienced recurrence of VA. The pooled incidence of appropriate ICD therapies during follow-up was 8.1 per 100 person-years (95% CI: 5.6–10.5, I2: 11.7%). Regarding the type of arrhythmic recurrence, the majority of arrhythmias (53.8%, 95% CI: 44.3–63.0%) were in the form of ventricular fibrillation or polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT), while the remaining arrhythmias were reported as monomorphic VT. Among 67 ventricular arrhythmic episodes reported in 7 studies with available data, 65 required shock therapy, corresponding to a shock proportion of 97.0% (95% CI: 89.6–99.6%). Conclusion Arrhythmic MVP patients with ICDs for secondary prevention exhibit a high risk of recurrent arrhythmias, with recurrences in the form of polymorphic VA occurring in more than half of the cases. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42024588610

Abstract Background and Aims Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are critical for preventing sudden cardiac death (SCD) in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). This study aims to identify cross-continental differences in utilization of primary prevention ICDs and survival free from sustained ventricular arrhythmia (VA) in ARVC. Methods This was a retrospective analysis of ARVC patients without prior VA enrolled in clinical registries from 11 countries throughout Europe and North America. Patients were classified according to whether they received treatment in North America or Europe and were further stratified by baseline predicted VA risk into low- (<10%/5 years), intermediate- (10%–25%/5 years), and high-risk (>25%/5 years) groups. Differences in ICD implantation and survival free from sustained VA events (including appropriate ICD therapy) were assessed. Results One thousand ninety-eight patients were followed for a median of 5.1 years; 554 (50.5%) received a primary prevention ICD, and 286 (26.0%) experienced a first VA event. After adjusting for baseline risk factors, North Americans were more than three times as likely to receive ICDs {hazard ratio (HR) 3.1 [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.5, 3.8]} but had only mildly increased risk for incident sustained VA [HR 1.4 (95% CI 1.1, 1.8)]. North Americans without ICDs were at higher risk for incident sustained VA [HR 2.1 (95% CI 1.3, 3.4)] than Europeans. Conclusions North American ARVC patients were substantially more likely than Europeans to receive primary prevention ICDs across all arrhythmic risk strata. A lower rate of ICD implantation in Europe was not associated with a higher rate of VA events in those without ICDs.