title: Cardioverter defibrillator therapy as a bridge to heart transplantation.
abstract: The prognosis of patients with severely impaired left ventricular function is poor, with an annual mortality rate of about 50%, and the majority die from sudden cardiac death. Heart transplantation is an accepted therapy for patients with end-stage heart disease; however, about 30% of candidates for transplantation die from sudden cardiac death while on the waiting list. It has been shown that implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy has a low surgical mortality and is highly effective in the prevention of sudden death. Therefore, prophylactic ICD implantation may prevent sudden death in patients with end-stage heart disease while on the waiting list, and it is highly probable that patients with an ICD have a greater chance of survival until a donor heart becomes available. However, this hypothesis still has to be proven by prospective studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Trappe
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wenzlaff
mesh_terms: D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000517:prevention & control; D017147:Defibrillators, Implantable; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015996:Survival Rate