Research In Brief
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
ICD benefits in women: Meta-analysis of implantable cardioverter defibrillator studies published in the July issue of HeartRhythm shows that while women and men had the same overall mortality rates, women had significantly fewer ICD interventions on rapid, sustained ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation than men, "thus suggesting a smaller impact of sudden cardiac death on overall mortality in women with dilated cardiomyopathy." Researchers led by Pasquale Santangeli, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome, reviewed five studies that enrolled 7,229 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, including Boston Scientific's MADIT II and the landmark Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure trial