Usefulness of sleep-disordered breathing to predict occurrence of appropriate and inappropriate implantable-cardioverter defibrillator therapy in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillator for primary prevention of sudden cardiac death.

Advanced heart failure (HF) is associated with severe sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). In addition, most patients with HF are treated with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) for primary prevention of sudden cardiac death. The incidence of ICD therapy in such a patient cohort with SDB has never been investigated.