Abstract 4123563: High Prevalence of Unrecognized Actionable Cardiac Arrhythmias in Patients with Moderate to Severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract

Background: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at high risk for developing arrhythmias due to hypoxemia, right heart failure and use of beta-agonists inhalers. Symptoms related to arrhythmias can often be masked or confounded by symptoms related to COPD exacerbation and remain undiagnosed. Objective: To identify the incidence of actionable arrhythmias in patients with no prior cardiology follow-up and moderate–severe COPD with continuous monitoring. Methods: An automatic referral for electrophysiology (EP) consult was generated in patients with moderate-severe COPD if they answered yes to one of the following: palpitations, dizziness, abnormal ECG, near syncope. Upon consultation with EP specialist, implantation of loop reorder was discussed (ILR) with the patient. Patients were then monitored for 12 months via remote monitoring. Actionable arrhythmia was defined the arrhythmia that correlated with symptoms triggered by the patient, necessitated adjustment of medications (including initiation of anticoagulation), catheter ablation and implantation of implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) or permanent pacemaker (PPM). Results: Out of 62 patients referred 22 (35.5%) agreed to undergo ILR implantation. Of the 22 (50.0% female, 62 ± 9.5 years) patients implanted with an ILR, 15 (68.2%) had an actionable arrhythmia after a mean follow-up of 2.7± .3 months. These included 14 symptomatic events requiring medication adjustment (10 atrial tachycardias, 4 ventricular events), 7 cases of atrial fibrillation (requiring initiation of anticoagulation in all cases and catheter ablation in 1), 1 case of sinus node dysfunction requiring pacemaker implantation, and 1 episodes of sustained ventricular tachycardia requiring ICD implantation. Conclusion: Continuous monitoring had high yield in diagnosing significant arrhythmic events in patients with moderate-severe COPD. Awareness should be raised about the high arrhythmic risk of this population and the role of continuous monitoring should be sought in larger studies.