Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator use in patients with left ventricular assist device: prediction of ventricular arrhythmia using the VT-LVAD score

Background The survival benefit of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD) in patients with left ventricular assist device (LVAD) remains unproven. The VT-LVAD score was developed to stratify arrhythmic risk and may help identify patients most likely to benefit from ICD therapy. We aimed to retrospectively assess its ability to identify patients at higher risk of ventricular arrythmias and to describe ICD-related complications in a population of patients with ICD and LVAD. Methods A total of 63 primary continuous-flow LVAD implantation were performed at our institution between January 2010 and March 2020 were included and stratified by risk (VT-LVAD score