Patient characteristics and in‐hospital complications of subcutaneous implantable cardioverter‐defibrillator for Brugada syndrome in Japan

Abstract Background Clinical features and complications of subcutaneous implantable cardioverter‐defibrillator (S‐ICD) implantation for Brugada syndrome have not been well studied. Methods We used the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination database to retrospectively investigate patients who had undergone ICD implantation between April 2016 and March 2017. We compared the characteristics and in‐hospital complications of patients with Brugada syndrome implanted with S‐ICD or transvenous (TV)‐ICD. Results We extracted 3090 patients who received ICD implantation. Among them, we identified 278 Brugada patients. The mean age was 43 ± 14.4 years and 262 (94%) were male. Of these 278 patients, 136 (49%) received S‐ICD and 142 (51%) received TV‐ICD. TV‐ICD recipients had a history of atrial fibrillation more frequently compared with S‐ICD recipients. The median (interquartile range) of length of hospital stay was not significantly different between patients with S‐ICD and TV‐ICD (13 days [10‐20.5] vs 12 days [10‐18], respectively). The prevalence of in‐hospital complications after ICD implantation was similar between the two groups. There were no patients with cardiac tamponade, hemothorax, pneumothorax, cardiovascular event, stroke, and death following the procedure during hospitalization in either group. Conclusions Short‐term safety of S‐ICD implantation may be identical to that of TV‐ICD. Large prospective studies are warranted to compare the effects and long‐term safety of S‐ICD compared with TV‐ICD.