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Assessment of long-axis systolic function by TDI and M-mode echocardiography enables estimation of LVEF even in patients with poor IQ.

Background Little is known about the long-term outcome of implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy in survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Methods and ResultsThe frequency of lethal ventricular arrhythmias and whether ICD implantation can prevent recurrence of cardiac arrest were examined. Long-term (24.4±11.9 months) outcome was examined in 23 patients with OHCA who were treated with an ICD (OHCA group) and 35 patients without OHCA (non-OHCA group) who were treated with an ICD. Patients in both groups had same clinical backgrounds; however, those in the OHCA group showed a significantly lower incidence of induced ventricular arrhythmias (71%) than the non-OHCA group (96%). In the follow-up period, patients in the OHCA group had almost the same incidence of ICD discharge (30%) as patients in the non-OHCA group (40%). The rate of recurrence of ventricular fibrillation in the OHCA patients was 13%, and it was difficult to estimate the rate by induced ventricular arrhythmia. Conclusion The results suggest that ICD implantation for survivors of OHCA with favorable neurological recovery might be effective for preventing recurrence of cardiac arrest. (Circ J 2006; 70: 1128 -1132

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