Longevity Study in Elderly(>79 years) Patients Following Permanent Pacemaker Insertion

Abstract

Background: The Bay of Plenty has a high proportion of elderly patients resulting in a high median age(79) of patients requiring pacemakers. This study looks at follow-up data of all patients who required a pacemaker at age 80 years or older. Methods: The Tauranga hospital database was used to identify all patients implanted aged 80 or older. Patients have been implanted with dual chamber, single chamber or cardiac resynchronisation therapy(CRT) devices. Hospital and pacemaker file records have been analysed to ascertain which patients were still alive at date 31/12/2015. Patients have been grouped into three age groups: 80-85; 86-90 and 91+ years. Time from implantation to death has been established. Survival duration from implantation to present was established in the survivors. Results: 283 patients aged 80 or older had a pacemaker implanted. 55% dual chamber; 45% single chamber; 2 CRT-P. The oldest patients were aged 99 years at the time of implant. 195 patients out of the 283 were alive as on 31/12/2015 and 88 patients were deceased. In the deceased patient group average time from implantation to death is 2.5 years in the 80-85 group; 2 years in the 86-90 group and 1 year in the 91+ group. Survival in the three age groups is demonstrated in the Kaplan Meier survival curves. Conclusion: This study has demonstrated longevity post pacemaker implantation in the very elderly. This information will be useful when evaluating elderly patients referred for a pacemaker.