Usefulness of Risk Stratification for Future Cardiac Events in Infarct Survivors with Severely Depressed Versus Near‐Normal Left Ventricular Function: Results From a Prospective Long‐Term Follow‐Up Study

摘要

Although primary preventive therapy with implantable cardioverter defibrillators has recently been shown to be effective in patients with coronary artery disease and left ventricular dysfunction, further identification of patients at particularly high risk for arrhythmic death would improve the cost effectiveness of device therapy. The value of risk stratification in postinfarction patients with versus those without left ventricular dysfunction has not been investigated in detail in infarct survivors treated according to contemporary therapeutic guidelines.