Sudden Cardiac Death

Great strides have been made in the approach to the management of sudden cardiac death. Patients who have been successfully resuscitated from an episode of sudden cardiac death are at high risk of recurrence. Much larger groups of patients who have not had episodes of sudden cardiac death are also at substantial risk for this event, however. Because the survival rates associated with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are dismal, these high-risk populations must be targeted for prophylaxis. Beta-blockers have been shown to be an effective pharmacologic therapy in patients who have had myocardial infarction and, most recently, in patients with congestive heart failure. When possible, these agents should be used in these populations. No class I or class III antiarrhythmic drugs, with the possible exception of amiodarone, have been shown to have efficacy as prophylactic agents for the reduction of mortality in these populations. In patients who have hemodynamically significant sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmias or an aborted episode of sudden cardiac death, the current therapy of choice is an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). For prophylaxis of sudden cardiac death in patients who have not had a previous event, several approaches may be considered. Currently, the best therapeutic approach for prophylaxis of sudden cardiac death seems to be the ICD; however, use of this device can be justified only in patients at substantial risk of sudden cardiac death. Defining the high-risk populations that will benefit from ICDs is critical in managing the problem of sudden cardiac death.