A recent observational study reports that implantable cardioverter defibrillators were not associated with improved survival in patients with heart failure, reduced left ventricular ejection fraction and chronic kidney disease. Further studies are needed to identify which of these high-risk patients are most likely to benefit from this potentially life-saving therapy.
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge helpful discussions with D. M. Charytan (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, USA) and B. Claggett (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, USA) regarding this manuscript.
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M.A.P. receives research support from Novartis and serves as a consultant for AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, DalCor, Genzyme, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Relypsa, Sanofi, Teva and Thrasos. He also has stock options for DalCor. F.R.M. reports no competing interests.
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Mc Causland, F.R., Pfeffer, M.A. Implantable cardioverter defibrillators in chronic kidney disease. Nat Rev Nephrol 14, 357–358 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-018-0007-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-018-0007-5
