The implantable cardioverter defibrillator in congestive heart failure patients in primary prevention: assessment of neuropsychological impact

Aim. Cognitive impairment, anxiety and depression have been described in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). The aim was to analyse the prevalence of cognitive impairment and anxiety-depression in an in-hospital CHF population before discharge attempting to correlate with the presence of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). Methods. All subjects underwent a mini mental state examination (MMSE), geriatric depression scale (GDS), hospital anxiety and depression scale test (HADS). Results. Three-hundred and eighteen CHF patients (age 71.6 years, 195 males) were analysed. The mean New York Heart Association class (NYHA) was 2.9 +/- 0.8, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was 43.4 +/- 15.8%; brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) plasma level was 579.8 +/- 688.4 pg/mL. In 9.6% a pathological MMSE score emerged; a depression of mood in 18.2% and anxiety in 23.4% of patients were observed. An ICD was implanted in 43 (14.2%) CHF patients for primary prevention of cardiac sudden death. Patients in ICD group demonstrated a higher prevalence of renal impairment (creatinine 1.7 +/- 0.7 vs. 1.2 +/- 0.8 mg/dL; P=0.0001), lower LVEF (24.9 +/- 8.9 vs. 46.2 +/- 14.6% P=0.0001) and higher BNP (717.1 +/- 538 vs. 345.4 +/- 448.6 pg/ml; P=0.0001) but similar 6-minute walking test (338.6 +/- 81.3 vs. 345.3 +/- 114.9 m; P=0.8). An ICD intervention was registered in 9 (20.9%) patients. Although clinical parameters seemed to describe a sicker population in ICD implanted patients, from neuropsychological tests did not emerge any significant differences (PINS for MMSE, GDS and HADS). Conclusion. ICD-implanted CHF patients for primary prevention did not reveal a worsening in anxiety and depression of mood demonstrating a similar cognitive performance in comparison with non-ICD implanted.