Clinical Research Directory

Early Prediction of ICD Candidacy After Anterior Myocardial Infarction

Despite the advances of pharmacologic and interventional therapies, sudden (or arrhythmic) cardiac death remains very high in the early weeks-to-months after an acute myocardial infarction (MI).The majority of cardiac arrests occur in patients who have large infarctions resulting in extensive myocardial damage, which is translated into lower left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Hence, low LVEF remains -to the current time- the most robust predictor for post MI sudden (and presumably arrhythmic) death; and is the determinant for implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) candidacy for primary prevention as per clinical practice guidelines.ICD significantly and effectively reduced ventricular arrhythmia (VA)-mediated cardiac deaths among these patients.