3.1 Study population
Between July and December 2017, 57 consecutive patients that attended
in-clinic checkup were enrolled and 32 patients that underwent first
implantation of ICD or CRT-D for primary prevention were also randomized
at the time of the procedure. In a similar way, the historical cohort
included 64 patients that attended in-clinic checkup and 30 consecutives
patients who implanted a defibrillator (figure 2). Of note, 15 patients
of the prospective group were included in the historical group.
The mean age of overall population was 67 ± 10 years and 82% were male.
Characteristics of the two studied groups are shown in table 1. Patients
in the new programming group were more frequently under spironolactone
(49% vs 35%, p=0.016). No other characteristics differ between groups.
Median follow-up was 20 ± 7 months. No patients were lost to follow-up.