Why the study?
Do implantable cardioverter-defibrillators reduce mortality in patients with nonischemic heart failure?
Do implantable cardioverter-defibrillators reduce mortality in patients with nonischemic heart failure?
This editorial questions the robustness of evidence supporting ICD use for primary prevention in patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathy.
In a number of primary-prevention trials, implantable cardioverter–defibrillators (ICDs) have been shown to reduce the risk of premature death among patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction after myocardial infarction and among patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction.1 The evidence of a benefit is less robust for patients with heart failure who do not have coronary artery disease; the single largest trial, involving 458 such patients, did not show a significant reduction in mortality in association with ICD therapy.2 As a result, the current guideline recommendations are based on a meta-analysis of small trials involving patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathy, . . .
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John J.V. McMurray (2016) studied this question.