Background: A worldwide cardiac pacing and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) survey was undertaken for calendar year 2005 and compared to a similar survey conducted in 2001.
Results: There were contributions from 43 countries: 16 from Europe, 13 from the Asia Pacific region, four from the Middle East and Africa, and 10 from the Americas. The United States had the largest number of cardiac pacemaker implants (223,425). Virtually all countries showed increases in implant numbers over the 4 years. High-degree atrioventricular block and sick sinus syndrome remain the major indications for implantation of a cardiac pacemaker, although indications data were not available for large implanting regions such as Europe, Australia, and the United States. There remains a high percentage of VVI(R) pacing in the developing countries, although compared to the 2001 survey, virtually all countries had increased the percentage of DDDR implants, together with a fall in single-lead VDD implants. Pacing leads were predominantly transvenous, bipolar, and passive fixation. There was, however, an increased use of active fixation leads in both the atrium and ventricle. All countries surveyed showed a significant rise in the use of ICDs with the largest implanter being the United States (119,121) with 401 new implants per million population.
Conclusions: Although the numbers of participating countries have fallen, there still remains a group of loyal enthusiastic survey coordinators. Recruitment of new coordinators will hopefully continue in order to obtain a fully global experience of cardiac pacing and ICD usage.