Risk stratification for primary implantation of a cardioverter-defibrillator in patients with ischemic left ventricular dysfunction.

Objectives: The study was designed to develop a simple risk stratification score for primary therapy with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD).

Background: Current guidelines recommend primary ICD therapy in patients with a low ejection fraction (EF). However, the benefit of the ICD in the low EF population may not be uniform.

Reduction in ventricular tachyarrhythmias with statins in the Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial (MADIT)-II.

Objectives: We evaluated whether statins have anti-arrhythmic effects by exploring the association of statin use with appropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy for ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation (VT/VF) in the Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial (MADIT)-II.

Background: A few studies have suggested that lipid-lowering drugs may have anti-arrhythmic effects in patients with coronary artery disease.

Methods: Patients receiving an ICD (n = 654; U.