title: Clinical implications of the "Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial" (MADIT)
abstract: Efficacious therapy for chronic coronary patients, known to be at high risk of sudden arrhythmic death, has been a long-lasting challenge for cardiologists. The "Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial" (MADIT) has demonstrated in a prospective, randomized trial that such patients achieve 54% better survival (p < or = 0.009) when treated with implantable defibrillators (ICDs) compared to conventional pharmaceutical therapy-primarily amiodarone. The identification of these patients is well-defined, and patients with previous myocardial infarction fitting the appropriate risk profile as defined by MADIT (ejection.fraction < or = 0.35), non-sustained ventricular tachycardia should seriously be considered for prophylactic ICD implantation.
authors.affiliation: Hospital de Santa Cruz, Carnaxide.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nisam
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Adragão
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D017147:Defibrillators, Implantable / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014481:United States