Long-term outcomes of cardiac defibrillator implantation in survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

Abstract

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Survival after OHCA is poor, although it has improved in the last decade because of the availability of public access to defibrillators. European guidelines recommend an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) in patients with OHCA and a documented ventricular fibrillation in the absence of reversible causes such as acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, there is limited data available on the use of an ICD in this group of patients.