Spanish pacemaker registry. 19th official report of the Heart Rhythm Association of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (2021)

Introduction and objectives: This document includes cardiac pacing activity performed in Spain in 2021: figures for implanted devices, demographic and clinical factors, characteristics of the implanted material, and remote monitoring data.

Methods: The European Pacemaker Patient Card, the CardioDispositivos.es online platform, the centers' own databases and the data provided by the supplier companies are used as sources of information.

Results: 17.360 procedures were registered from 95 hospitals, which represents 43% of the activity. The implantation rates of conventional and resynchronization pacemakers were 822 and 31 units per million population, respectively. 652 leadless pacemakers were implanted. The mean age of implantation is high (78.8 years), and atrioventricular block is the most frequent electrocardiographic abnormality. Dual-chamber pacing mode predominated, nonetheless single-chamber pacing was performed in 19% of patients in sinus rhythm, mainly in the elderly. 28.5% of implanted conventional pacemakers and 56,2% of low-energy resynchronization pacemakers were included in the remote monitoring program.

Conclusions: In 2021 the number of conventional pacemakers increased by 8.3% and resynchronizers by 18.9%, despite the decrease in low-energy resynchronization, probably attributable to the development of physiological pacing. Leadless pacemakers increased by 25%. The expansion of remote monitoring continued, consolidating as a fundamental follow-up method.