Abstract
Background/objectives
Syncope in octogenarians represents an important problem in terms of comorbidity, quality of life and substantial medical costs, resulting from studies and treatments. An implantable loop ecorder (ILR) may improve diagnostic performance. The objective of the study was to evaluate the results of the ILR in a population of octogenarians.
Design
Prospective registry of patients receiving an implantable loop recorder in 40 Spanish centers.
Participants
128 octogenarians implanted with a device for clinical evaluation of syncope.
Methods
Prospective registry recording the incidence of new symptoms or device activations within the first year after the implant, the incidence of new diagnosis and treatments, and an evaluation of the safety of this strategy in this population. Dedicated database for the registry.
Results
Forty-two patients (33% of the population) obtained a final etiological diagnosis of the syncope, which led to a specific treatment in 39 (31%) patients. No differences regarding the presence of conduction disturbances or structural heart disease were found in this population. A mortality of 4% was recorded during follow-up.
Conclusion
The implantable loop recorder seems to be an effective and safe tool in the management of syncope in the octogenarian population.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Soteriades ES, Evans JC, Larson MG et al (2002) Incidence and prognosis of syncope. N Engl J Med 347(12):878–885
Ruwald MH, Hansen ML, Lamberts M et al (2013) Comparison of incidence, predictors, and the impact of co-morbidity and polypharmacy on the risk of recurrent syncope in patients < 85 versus ≥ 85 years of age. Am J Cardiol 112:1610–1615
Marrison VK, Fletcher A, Parry SW (2012) The older patient with syncope: practicalities and controversies. Int J Cardiol 155:9–13
Brignole M, Moya A, de Lange FJ et al (2018) ESC Scientific Document Group 2018 ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of syncope. Eur Heart J 39(21):1883–1948
Armstrong VL, Lawson J, Kamper AM, Newton J, Kenny RA (2003) The use of an implantable loop recorder in the investigation of unexplained syncope in older people. Age Ageing 32:185–188
Brignole M, Menozzi C, Maggi R et al (2005) The usage and diagnostic yield of the implantable loop-recorder in detection of the mechanism of syncope and in guiding effective antiarrhythmic therapy in older people. Europace 7:273–279
Martínez P, Pilar Sáez M, Rubio JA, Cánovas E, Esteban E, Botas J (2014) Experience with the use of an implantable loop recorder in a series of older people with falls and suspected arrhythmic syncopes. Rev Esp Geriatr Gerontol 49(3):121–124
Bhangu J, McMahon CG, Hall P et al (2016) Long-term cardiac monitoring in older adults with unexplained falls and syncope. Heart 102(9):681–686
Lacunza-Ruiz FJ, Moya-Mitjans A, Martínez-Alday J et al (2013) Implantable loop recorder allows an etiologic diagnosis in one-third of patients. Results of the Spanish Reveal Registry. Circ J 77(10):2535–2541
Edvardsson N, Garutti C, Rieger G, Linker NJ (2014) PICTURE Study Investigators. Unexplained syncope: implications of age and gender on patient characteristics and evaluation, the diagnostic yield of an implantable loop recorder, and the subsequent treatment. Clin Cardiol 37(10):618–625
Solbiati M, Casazza G, Dipaola F et al (2015) Syncope recurrence and mortality: a systematic review. Europace 17(2):300–308
Ungar A, Galizia G, Morrione A et al (2011) Two-year morbidity and mortality in elderly patients with syncope. Age Ageing 40(6):696–702
Baron-Esquivias G, Martínez-Alday J, Martín A et al (2010) Epidemiological characteristics and diagnostic approach in patients admitted to the emergency room for transient loss of consciousness: Group for Syncope Study in the Emergency Room (GESINUR) study. Europace 12(6):869–876
Edvardsson N, Wolff C, Tsintzos S, Rieger G, Linker NJ (2015) Costs of unstructured investigation of unexplained syncope: insights from amicro-costing analysis of the observational PICTURE registry. Europace 17(7):1141–1148
IG Baena, FJG García, RN Abad, BM Sánchez (2011) Evaluación económica del Holter implantable para el diagnóstico de síncope en España. PharmacoEconomics Spanish Research Articles 8(1):29–37
Acknowledgements
I, the corresponding author, affirm that I have listed everyone who contributed significantly to the work and have obtained written consent from all non-author contributors who are named in the acknowledgment section. The authors thank María Corrales for their technical assistance in the translation of the final manuscript. Spanish Reveal Registry: Participating centers and investigators: Clínica Universitaria de Navarra (Ignacio García-Bolao), Complejo Hospitalario de Jaén (Miguel Ángel Arias), Fundación Hospital Son Llatzer (Tomás Ripoll-Vera), Hospital Xeral de Vigo (Xulio Beiras), Hospital 12 de Octubre (Fernando Arribas/María López-Gil), Hospital Arnau de Vilanova (José Sotillo), Hospital Clínico de Valencia (Ricardo Ruiz-Granell), Hospital Clínico San Carlos (Julián Villacastín), Hospital Costa del Sol (Francisco Ruiz-Mateas), Hospital de Basurto/Clínica Vicente San Sebastián (Jesús Martínez-Alday/María Fe Arcocha), Hospital De Donostia (Rafael Telleria), Hospital De Fuenlabrada (Alejandro Curcio), Hospital De León (Marisa Fidalgo), Hospital de Mérida (Javier Tejada-Ruiz), Hospital de Orense (José Miguel Martínez-Escauriaza Alonso), Hospital de Santiago (José Luis Martínez-Sande), Hospital de Tortosa (I. Lechuga), Hospital de Valme (Mª Dolores García-Medina), Hospital De Zafra (Francisco Andrade), Hospital del Mar (Julio Martí), Hospital Francisco de Borja (Plácido Orosa/Cathelyne Lawers), Hospital General de Albacete (Jesús F. García Sacristán), Hospital General De Castellón (Alejandro Navarro), Hospital General De Ciudad Real (Juan Benezet), Hospital General Yagüe (Javier García/Javier Martín), Hospital Gregorio Marañón (Felipe Atienza), Hospital Juan Canalejo (Luisa Pérez), Hospital Juan Ramón Jiménez (Rafael Barba-Pichardo), Hospital Marques de Valdecilla (Susana González), Hospital Puerta De Hierro (Jorge Toquero), Hospital Puerta del Mar (Lucas Cano), Hospital Ramón y Cajal (Antonio Hernández-Madrid), Hospital Río Hortega (Benito Herreros/Juan Francisco Muñoz), Hospital San Pedro de Alcántara (J. M. Larrazabal Murillo), Hospital Universitario de Canarias (Aníbal Rodríguez), Hospital Universitario de Getafe (Agustín Pastor), Hospital Universitario Infanta Cristina (Juan José García-Guerrero), Hospital Universitario La Paz (José Luis Merino-Llorens), Hospital Universitario Vall D’hebron (Ángel Moya), Hospital Virgen De La Arrixaca (Arcadio García-Alberola, Francisco J. Lacunza Ruiz), Hospital Virgen De La Macarena (Ernesto Díaz), Hospital Virgen De La Victoria (Javier Alzueta), Hospital Virgen del Rocío (Eduardo Arana).
Funding
Medtronic Ibérica collaborated with the design and maintenance of the Registry database. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Consortia
Contributions
All authors participated in the study design, data gathering, analysis and interpretation. Francisco J. Lacunza-Ruiz and Arcadi García-Alberola prepared the manuscript that was subsequently approved in its final version by the other authors.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no commercial associations or sources of support that might pose a conflict of interest. The authors declare not to have non-financial conflicts of interest. Their personal opinions are not in conflict with the data reported in the paper. Besides, none of them are members or are affiliated to any non-governmental organizations that may have an interest in the submission.
Ethical approval
All procedures performed in the studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and the 1964 Helsinki Declaration, and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed consent
Written informed consent for device implant and follow-up was obtained in all cases.
Additional information
The members of Spanish Reveal Registry are listed in Acknowledgements.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lacunza-Ruiz, F.J., Moya-Mitjans, A., Martínez-Alday, J. et al. Diagnostic yield of the implantable loop recorder in octogenarians. Eur Geriatr Med 10, 129–133 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-018-0128-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-018-0128-1