NEJM -- Prophylactic Catheter Ablation for the Prevention of Defibrillator Therapy

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http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/357/26/2657?query=TOC

Background For patients who have a

ventricular tachyarrhythmic event, implantable

cardioverter–defibrillators (ICDs) are a mainstay of

therapy to prevent sudden death. However, ICD shocks are

painful, can result in clinical depression, and do not

offer complete protection against death from arrhythmia. We

designed this randomized trial to examine whether prophylactic radiofrequency

catheter ablation of arrhythmogenic ventricular tissue

would reduce the incidence of ICD therapy.