Sudden cardiac death in heart failure.

Sudden cardiac deaths account for 350,000 to 380,000 deaths in the United States annually. Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators have improved sudden death outcomes in patients with heart failure, but only a minority of patients with defibrillators receives appropriate therapy for ventricular arrhythmias. The risk prediction for sudden death and selection of patients for defibrillators is based largely on left ventricular ejection fraction and heart failure symptoms because there are no other risk stratification tools that can determine the individual patients who will derive the greatest benefit. There are several other pharmacologic strategies designed to prevent sudden death in patients with heart failure.