Historical Perspectives on the Implantable Cardioverter–Defibrillator and Prevention of Sudden Death in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Publication date: Available online 14 April 2015 Source:Cardiac Electrophysiology Clinics Author(s): Barry J. MaronTeaser The implantable cardioverter–defibrillator (ICD) was not originally envisioned as a treatment to prevent sudden death (SD) in young people with genetic heart diseases. In the case of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), initially it was not known whether the ICD would be effective in patients with a disease very different morphologically and functionally from coronary artery disease. Nevertheless, several observational clinical studies have shown that the ICD reliably terminates life-threatening ventricular tachyarrhythmias in HCM, and is largely responsible for reducing HCM mortality to 0.5%/year, by preventing SD and changing the natural course of the disease.
Source: Cardiac Electrophysiology Clinics - Category: Cardiology Source Type: research