Patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators are 50% more likely to have a traffic accident compared to age- and gender-matched controls, according to a national registry study in Denmark.
Researchers identified 4,874 Danish ICD patients between 2008 and mid-2012, and a control group of 9,748 subjects matched by age and gender culled from nationwide registers on accidents and deaths.
Some 2.3% of ICD patients contacted a hospital following a motor vehicle accident, compared to 1.7% of the control group after 2.5 years, according to the study. Although this meant a 51% increased risk of motor vehicle accident, rate of accidents was still low at 1.0% to 1.4% after 1 year and there were no deaths linked to automobile crashes in the ICD group.
“Our study provides contemporary data suggesting that the risk of motor vehicle accidents is in fact increased following ICD implantation when compared to controls,” said lead author Dr. Jenny Bjerre, of Copenhagen’s Herlev and Gentofte University Hospital, according to MedicalXpress.com. “Due to the retrospective nature of the study we are unable to conclude that ICDs cause traffic accidents. However, because the control population was generally healthier and took fewer medically prescribed drugs, we speculate that the observed increased risk of motor vehicle accidents in the ICD population is likely a consequence of the underlying cardiovascular disease, rather than the ICD device itself.”