TITLE:
NYHA Class II or III Heart Failure: Who Will Need an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD)?
AUTHORS:
Irtiza Hasan, Muhammad Tofazzal Hossain, Md. Harun Ur Rashid Bhuiyan
KEYWORDS:
Heart Failure, Sudden Cardiac Death, Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator, ICD, NYHA, ESC
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Cardiovascular Diseases,
Vol.6 No.10,
October
18,
2016
ABSTRACT: Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is one of the most debilitating and life-threatening complications of heart failure (HF) which has challenged medical care for long. Current guidelines suggest the use of Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) in primary prevention of SCD in both New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II and class III heart failure. This paper critically evaluated the evidence underlying the guideline recommendation. In contrast to recent guidelines, the majority of the intervention trials conducted on the topic till date found a promising role of ICD only in the prevention of SCD in NYHA class II HF. One of the trials which found a significant role of ICD in type III heart failure was underpowered. Thus, further trials are needed to validate the use of ICD in the prevention of SCD in type III HF.