Data collection and data management
Thorough information about the patients’ history, clinical and
echocardiographic data, intracardiac device data, extraction indication,
comorbidites, procedural success, hospitalization length, early (before
discharge) and long-term follow-up (after discharge) mortality data were
collected on case-report forms. Particularly, chronic kidney disease was
defined according with NICE UK-KDIGO US guideline (17); reduced LVEF is
defined as ≤ 40%, as recently reported on the Universal Definition and
Classification of Heart failure (18). The consistency and accuracy of
the data have been audited by health data management. Costs associated
with the procedure and the hospitalization were derived from the
Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) reimbursements our Institution received
from Regione Lazio in Italy.