Journal of the American College of Cardiology
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Nov 2016
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyLong-Term Clinical Outcomes of Subcutaneous Versus Transvenous Implantable Defibrillator Therapy.
Transvenous implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (TV-ICDs) improve survival in patients at risk for sudden cardiac death, but complications remain an important drawback. The subcutaneous ICD (S-ICD) was developed to overcome lead-related complications. Comparison of clinical outcomes of both device types in previous studies was hampered by dissimilar patient characteristics. ⋯ The complication rate in patients implanted with an S-ICD or TV-ICD was similar, but their nature differed. The S-ICD reduced lead-related complications significantly, at the cost of nonlead-related complications. Rates of appropriate and inappropriate shocks were similar between the 2 groups.