Patient perspective and safety of remote monitoring of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators in the Polish Nationwide Multicenter Registry: the Medtronic CareLink network evaluation

Background: Remote monitoring of cardiovascular implantable electronic devices allows the assessment of system effectiveness, arrhythmia occurrence, and indirectly, clinical changes. Medical interventions can be performed earlier because of a faster transfer of information to the monitoring site, even in the case of asymptomatic arrhythmias or abnormalities in the operation of the system. Aims: The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of remote monitoring of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators and evaluation in an outpatient setting during 12-month follow-up. Methods: We analyzed 176 patients at 10 sites (men, 84.1%). The mean (SD) age of the patients was 60.7 (12.5) years (range, 20–86 years), and mean (SD) follow-up period was 405 (70) days (range, 131–723 days). Results: A total of 354 outpatient and 514 remote follow-up visits were conducted. Episodes of arrhythmias and device malfunctions were detected with similar frequency in outpatient visits and in remote visits. During the study period, patient sense of safety increased. More patients preferred joined remote and outpatient visits as the optimal healthcare model. As the patient survey showed, the greatest benefit of the CareLink network was fast intervention and an increased sense of safety. Conclusions: The strategy of remote monitoring appeared to be feasible, safe, and patient friendly, demonstrating that the majority of patients do not require an additional in -person visit within 1 year from the device implantation just to confirm the proper functioning of the implantable cardioverter--defibrillators.