Heart failure & cardiomyopathiesResearch article
Optimizing the Primary Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death in Patients With Heart Failure
- Narrative review
Study context
- Population
- Patients with heart failure (HF) (reduced or preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)) considered for primary-prevention ICD
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Primary prevention of SCD with ICDs in HF: incidence of SCD and alignment of ICD recommendations with risk
- Contemporary medical management has reduced the risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in patients with reduced LVEF; an increasingly large proportion never requires the ICD
- SCD is the major cause of CV mortality in HF with preserved LVEF, yet implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are not recommended for primary prevention in this subset
- Recommendations for ICD use for primary prevention of SCD are no longer optimal
Original publication
Optimizing the Primary Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death in Patients With Heart Failure. J Am Coll Cardiol. Published 5 August 2025. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2025.05.061
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it