STandardized Ultra-conservative Or Physician-directed ICD Programming for Continuous Flow LVAD Support

This study will evaluate the utilization of an ultra-conservative programming strategy to reduce shocks for ventricular arrhythmias (VA) among patients with heart failure, an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and continuous flow (CF) left ventricular assist device (LVAD). Patients on LVAD support demonstrate unique hemodynamic tolerability of VA, and the role for ICDs among patients with newer generation CF LVADs remains less clear than the older generation devices. Prior studies have explored extended detection ICD programming to reduce unecessary or potentially avoidable shocks to patients. However, no prospective randomized study to-date has evaluated such programming strategies in the CF LVAD patient population. The study hypothesis is that ultra-conservative (UC) ICD programming will result in a reduction of shocks and an improvement in quality of life without increasing hospitalizations, syncope or death among patients on CF LVAD support, and the primary design is a 1:1 randomization between UC programming over standard, physician discretion programming.