The impact of implantable cardiac defibrillators for primary prophylaxis in the community: baseline risk and clinically meaningful benefits

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the baseline risk of arrhythmic death required for prophylactic implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs) to result in clinically meaningful survival benefits in the population. BACKGROUND: While proven efficacious, the absolute survival impact of ICDs for the primary prevention of sudden cardiac death among patients with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction is highly dependent upon patient's baseline risk of arrhythmic …