Falls and Fractures in the Elderly with Sinus Node Disease: The Impact of Pacemaker Implantation

• Main Authors: Nazmi Krasniqi, Diana Segalada, Thomas F. Lüscher, Kurt Lippuner, Laurent Haegeli, Jan Steffel, Thomas Wolber, Corinna Brunckhorst, Johannes Holzmeister, David Hürlimann, Firat Duru
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2012-01-01
• Series: Cardiology Research and Practice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/498102

Background. Falls and fractures in the elderly are among the leading causes of disability. We investigated whether pacemaker implantation prevents falls in patients with SND in a large cohort of patients. Methods. Patient demographics and medical history were collected prospectively. Fall history was retrospectively reconstituted from available medical records. The 10-year probability for major osteoporotic fractures was calculated retrospectively from available medical records using the Swiss fracture risk assessment tool FRAX-Switzerland. Results. During a mean observation period of 2.3 years after implantation, the rates of fallers and injured fallers with fracture were reduced to 15% and 6%, respectively. This corresponds to a relative reduction in the number of fallers of 75% (P<0.001) and of injured fallers of 63% (P=0.014) after pacemaker implantation. Similarly, the number of falls was reduced from 60 (48%) before pacemaker implantation to 22 (18%) thereafter (relative reduction 63%, P=0.035) and the number of falls with injury from 22 (18%) to 7 (6%), which corresponds to a relative reduction of 67%, P=0.013. Conclusion. In patients with SND, pacemaker implantation significantly reduces the number of patients experiencing falls, the total number of falls, and the risk for osteoporotic fractures.