Increased Incidence of Tachyarrhythmias and Heart Failure Hospitalization in Patients with Implanted Cardiac Devices After the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster

Background: After the East Japan Earthquake disaster there may have been a deterioration of patients with cardiovascular diseases.

Methods And Results: We examined the data from 189 consecutive patients implanted with cardiovascular devices for the 6-month period before and after the Earthquake. In 170 patients with defibrillators, the number who experienced tachyarrhythmias increased significantly after the Earthquake (28 ± 5 vs. 34 ± 3 patients/month, P<0.05). In 74 patients with biventricular pacemakers, the number of heart failure hospitalizations significantly increased after the Earthquake (1.2 ± 1.0 vs. 2.7 ± 1.2 patients/month, P<0.05).

Conclusions: The East Japan Earthquake disaster unfavorably affected patients implanted with defibrillators or biventricular pacemakers.