Survival of Patients With Primary Prophylactic ICD Indication

The MADIT-II trial has shown that patients with severely reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) post myocardial infarction benefit from the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). However, retrospective analyses of the MADIT-II data have revealed a significantly increased morbidity and mortality in patients with appropriate ICD therapy: Appropriate ICD therapy is associated with 3.3-fold increased all-cause mortality, and the risk of a first heart failure hospitalization is 90% higher after 1st appropriate ICD therapy. Hence, the 1st appropriate therapy might indicate the necessity and utility of further clinical diagnostics and therapy in these patients. This trial is designed to (i) improve the knowledge of the group characteristics of patients suffering from 1st appropriate ICD therapy, (ii) but moreover to take additional therapeutic steps to reduce the mortality of this patient population.