Indications for Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators.

Sudden death caused by cardiac arrest due to ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation remains a serious health problem worldwide. In the United States alone, cardiovascular disease accounts for over 900,000 deaths annually (1). Of these deaths, 350,000 are due to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (2), two-thirds of which occur without prior recognition of cardiac disease (1). In the United States, 15-20% of all fatalities and 50% of all cardiac fatalities are sudden. Although sudden death caused by asystole or pulseless electrical activity is not preventable, sudden death caused by a ventricular arrhythmia can be. Prompt treatment to stop the ventricular arrhythmia before it causes death is possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]