Do implantable cardioverter-defibrillators prevent sudden cardiac death in high-risk patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?
A single marker of high risk for sudden death may be sufficient to justify prophylactic ICD implantation in selected patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
In a high-risk HCM cohort, ICD interventions for life-threatening ventricular tachyarrhythmias were frequent and highly effective in restoring normal rhythm. An important proportion of ICD discharges occurred in primary prevention patients who had undergone implantation for a single risk factor. Therefore, a single marker of high risk for sudden death may be sufficient to justify consideration for prophylactic defibrillator implantation in selected patients with HCM.
Maron et al. (Tue,) studied this question.