Wrong Patients Selected for Cardiac Devices

Patients with advanced heart failure may be receiving implantable cardiac devices that do not help them because they are too ill to benefit from the treatment, a Saint Louis University study found.

Implantable cardiac devices were not intended for, or studied as 'rescue therapy' for very ill hospitalized patients with heart failure, the study authors reported, adding that overuse of these devices is a disservice to patients, because it puts them through unnecessary procedures and creates unrealistic expectations for the device.

An author of the study commented that while decision-making for patients who have very advanced symptomatic heart failure is complex, the guidelines for patient selection emphasize that device implantation should be limited to those who are expected to have, at the very least, a one year life expectancy.

JUN-09-08: [ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY: IMPLANTABLE CARDIAC DEVICES]
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Published on Jun-9-08