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. 2024 Apr 15;5(5):274-280.
doi: 10.1016/j.hroo.2024.04.008. eCollection 2024 May.

Sex differences in achieving guideline-recommended heart rate control among a large sample of patients at risk for sudden cardiac arrest

Valentina Kutyifa  1 , Ashley E Burch  2 , Birgit Aßmus  3 , Diana Bonderman  4 , Nicole R Bianco  5 , Andrea M Russo  6 , Julia W Erath  7
Affiliations

Sex differences in achieving guideline-recommended heart rate control among a large sample of patients at risk for sudden cardiac arrest

Valentina Kutyifa et al. Heart Rhythm O2. .

Abstract

Background: Despite known clinical benefits, guideline-recommended heart rate (HR) control is not achieved for a significant proportion of patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction. The wearable cardioverter-defibrillator (WCD) provides continuous HR monitoring and alerts that could aid medication titration.

Objective: This study sought to evaluate sex differences in achieving guideline-recommended HR control during a period of WCD use.

Methods: Data from patients fitted with a WCD from 2015 to 2018 were obtained from the manufacturer's database (ZOLL). The proportion of patients with adequate nighttime resting HR control at the beginning of use (BOU) and at the end of use (EOU) were compared by sex. Adequate HR control was defined as having a nighttime median HR <70 beats/min.

Results: A total of 21,440 women and a comparative sample of 17,328 men (median 90 [IQR 59-116] days of WCD wear) were included in the final dataset. Among patients who did not receive a shock, over half had insufficient HR control at BOU (59% of women, 53% of men). Although the proportion of patients with resting HR ≥70 beats/min improved by EOU, 43% of women and 36% of men did not achieve guideline-recommended HR control.

Conclusion: A significant proportion of women and men did not achieve adequate HR control during a period of medical therapy optimization. Compared with men, a greater proportion of women receiving WCD shocks had insufficiently controlled HR in the week preceding ventricular tachyarrhythmia/ventricular fibrillation and 43% of nonshocked women, compared with 36% of men, did not reach adequate HR control during the study period. The WCD can be utilized as a remote monitoring tool to record HR and inform adequate uptitration of beta-blockers, with particular focus on reducing the treatment gap in women.

Keywords: Heart rate control; Sudden cardiac death; VF; VT; Ventricular tachyarrhythmia; Wearable cardioverter-defibrillator; Women.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of nonshocked patients with resting heart rate (HR) below guideline recommended threshold (<70 beats/min) at beginning of use (BOU) and end of use (EOU). Mean HR at BOU and EOU.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage of patients who received a shock with resting heart rate (HR) below guideline recommended threshold (<70 beats/min) at beginning of use (BOU) and during the week preceding the ventricular tachyarrhythmia (VT)/ventricular fibrillation (VF). Mean HR at BOU and 1 week preceding the VT/VF.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Change in heart rate over time by sex. WCD = wearable cardioverter defibrillator.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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