Indications for and long-term survival in patients with automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillators.

Automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (AICDs) were implanted in 378 men and 95 women, mean age 69 +/- 12 years. At 3.6-year follow up, survival was 76% in patients who had an AICD because of cardiac arrest as a result of ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia not resulting from a transient or reversible cause; 85% in patients who had an AICD because of spontaneous sustained ventricular tachycardia in association with structural heart disease; 92% in patients who had an AICD because of syncope of undetermined origin with clinically relevant, hemodynamically sustained ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation induced at electrophysiological study when drug therapy is ineffective, not tolerated, or not preferred; 84% in patients who had an AICD because of nonsustained ventricular tachycardia with coronary artery disease, prior myocardial infarction, left ventricular dysfunction, and inducible ventricular fibrillation or sustained ventricular tachycardia at electrophysiological study that is not suppressible by a class I antiarrhythmic drug; and 85% in all 473 patients who had an AICD.