Personalized screening before subcutaneous cardioverter-defibrillator implantation: Usefulness and outcomes in clinical practice—the S-ICD screening SIS prospective study

Electrocardiographic screening before subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (S-ICD) implantation is unsuccessful in around 10% of cases. A personalized screening method, by slightly moving the electrodes, to obtain a better R/T ratio has been described to overcome traditional screening failure. The objectives of the SIS study were to assess to what extent a personalized screening method improves eligibility for S-ICD implantation and to evaluate the inappropriate shock rate after such screening success. All consecutive patients eligible for an S-ICD implantation were prospectively recruited across 20 French centers between December 2019 and January 2022. In case of traditional screening failure, patients received a second personalized screening. If at least 1 vector was positive, the personalized screening was considered successful, and the patient was eligible for implantation. The study included 474 patients (mean age, 50.4 ± 14.1 years; 77.4% men). Traditional screening was successful in 456 (96.2%) cases. This figure rose to 98.3% (n = 466; P = .002) when personalized screening was performed. All patients implanted after successful personalized screening had correct signal detection on initial device interrogation. Nevertheless, after 1-year follow-up, 3 of the 7 patients (43%) implanted with personalized screening experienced inappropriate shock vs 18 of the 427 patients (4.2%) with traditional screening and S-ICD implantation (P = .003). Traditional S-ICD screening was successful in our study in a high proportion of patients. Considering the small improvement in success of screening and a higher rate of inappropriate shock, a strategy of personalized screening cannot be routinely recommended. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04101253 [Display omitted]