Pre-operative Prediction of Shock Impedance for Subcutaneous Implantable
Cardioverter Defibrillator Using Chest Computed Tomography
Abstract
Introduction: High shock impedance is associated with
conversion failure among patients with subcutaneous implantable
cardioverter defibrillators (S-ICD). Currently, there is no preoperative
assessment method for predicting high shock impedance. This study aimed
to examine the efficacy of chest computed tomography (CT) as a
preoperative evaluation tool to assess the shock impedance of S-ICDs.
Methods and Results: The amount of adipose tissue adjacent to
the device and the anteroposterior diameter at the basal heart region
were measured preoperatively using a chest CT. We examined the
correlation between these measurements and shock impedance at the
conversion test. We enrolled 43 patients with S-ICDs (age: 54±15 years,
body mass index: 23±4 kg/m 2, PRAETORIAN score:
30–270 points, amount of adipose tissue 1250±716 cc), who underwent
intraoperative conversion tests by inducing ventricular fibrillation,
which was terminated with a 65 J shock. A strong concordance correlation
coefficient was observed between the shock impedance and the amount of
adipose tissue (r=0.616, p < 0.01) and anteroposterior
diameter (r=0.645, p < 0.01). Moreover, these were identified
as independent predictive factors of shock impedance (amount of adipose
tissue: β=0.439, p = 0.009; anteroposterior diameter: β=0.344, p =
0.038) in the stepwise multiple regression analysis.
Conclusions: Preoperative CT-measured amount of adipose tissue
and basal heart anteroposterior diameter are independent predictors of
shock impedance. These may provide better accuracy in identifying high
shock impedance in patients with S-ICDs.