Will you Need Defibrillators

Simple test may help determine which patients should receive defibrillators, study suggests.

"A simple test can give cardiologists guidance about whether they should implant defibrillators into patients with weak hearts," according to a study published in the Nov. 6 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Dr. Jorge Salerno-Uniarte, of the Ospedale di Circolo e Fondazione Macchi, Varese, Italy, and colleagues, reviewed "the medical records of 446 cardiac patients who underwent a test known as T-wave alternans."

This test, according to Dr. Paul Chan, a cardiologist at Mid-America Heart Institute in Kansas City who is familiar with the study findings, is "similar to a traditional stress test, and requires patients to exercise enough to boost their pulse to 120 beats a minute."

Then, "Electrical leads...measure how their hearts function." According to the researchers, patients "who had abnormal test results were more than four times more likely to suffer abnormal heart rhythms or die within 18 to 24 months of the test." However, patients "who received normal scores on the test had 'a very good prognosis, and are likely to benefit little' from having defibrillators implanted."