TITLE:
Ventricular Arrhythmia-Free Survival Following Therapeutic Hypothermia in Patients with Sudden Cardiac Death Due to Ventricular Tachycardia or Fibrillation
AUTHORS:
Basil M. Saour, Yong H. Ji, Edward F. Philbin, Henry T. Tan, Duy T. Nguyen, James J. O’Brien, Mandeep S. Sidhu, David A. Steckman, Mikhail T. Torosoff
KEYWORDS:
Sudden Cardiac Death, Therapeutic Hypothermia, Implantable Cardiac Defibrillator
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Clinical Medicine,
Vol.8 No.5,
May
25,
2017
ABSTRACT: Background: The potential benefits of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy in patients with sudden cardiac death (SCD) treated with therapeutic hypothermia (TH) have not been well studied. Methods: Incidence of recurrent non-sustained ventricular arrhythmia, ICD therapy, and death were ascertained in 64 consecutive survivors of SCD due to ventricular fibrillation or tachycardia, who were treated with TH. Follow-up was 31.5 +/- 3.3 months in 41 ICD recipients and 36.3 +/- 3.9 months in 23 patients who did not receive an ICD due to the presence of a reversible cause of cardiac arrest, an acute myocardial infarction in 87%. Results: Combined incidence of ventricular arrhythmia, ICD therapy, or death in patients who underwent ICD placement (21.9%) were similar to overall mortality in the patients who did not receive an ICD (21.7%, p = 0.752). ICD placement was associated with a significant mortality benefit; 95.1% survival in ICD recipients vs. 78.3% in the no-ICD group (p = 0.038). Electrocardiographic findings of ST segment elevation on admission were associated with increased event rate in ICD recipients (p = 0.039) and increased mortality in SCD patients who did not receive an ICD (p Conclusions: SCD survivors treated with TH are at increased risk for recurrent arrhythmic events and derive significant mortality benefit from ICD implantation. Increased mortality in revascularized SCD patients with acute coronary syndrome, thought to have a reversible cause of cardiac arrest, calls for prospective trials investigating utility of ICD in this vulnerable patient population.