Does receiving defibrillator shocks for any arrhythmia increase the risk of death in patients with heart failure and a primary prevention ICD?
In heart failure patients with primary prevention ICDs, experiencing a defibrillator shock is a significant prognostic marker associated with a substantially higher risk of death.
Among patients with heart failure in whom an ICD is implanted for primary prevention, those who receive shocks for any arrhythmia have a substantially higher risk of death than similar patients who do not receive such shocks.
Poole et al. (2008) studied this question.