Frailty Syndrome in Heart Failure Patients who are Receiving Cardiac Resynchronization.

Background: We hypothesized that patients with de novo cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) implantation had a more intense frailty syndrome when compared to the patients who qualified for a system upgrade.

Methods: One hundred and six patients aged ≥65 years were included. They were divided into two groups: de novo CRT implantation--74 patients and upgrade from standard right heart pacing--32 patients. A CRT was finally implanted in all of the patients. Frailty was evaluated using the Canadian Study of Health and Aging Clinical Frailty Scale (CSHA-CFS).

Results: The average results in CSHA-CFS were statistically higher (5.3 ± 0.8) in the de novo patients when compared to the patients who qualified for a system upgrade (4.9 ± 0.8); P = 0.027. Frailty syndrome was recognized in 81.1% of the patients in the de novo group and in 68.7% of the patients in the upgrade group; P = 0.164. Only one patient of the 106 had no attributes of frailty (or exposed ones) syndrome.

Conclusions: Frailty syndrome is a common phenomenon in patients with heart failure and over 65 years of age. The syndrome is most often recognized in patients who are de novo qualified for cardiac resynchronization.