"Encouraging findings from the Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial (SCD-HeFT) are welcome news for a broad range of heart failure patients," explains Dr. Michael Cain, president of the NASPE-Heart Rhythm Society. "The positive results underscore the benefit of implantable cardioverter defibrillators as effective early-intervention tools for more patients with heart disease, even those with mild to moderate heart failure without previous heart attacks."

Study results showed the benefit from ICD therapy appeared to be strongest in those with moderate heart failure at enrollment. In addition, implanted defibrillators reduced deaths whether heart failure resulted from heart attack or a different cause.

"When these findings are put into practice, they will prolong the lives of many heart failure patients," notes Dr. Gust Bardy, SCD-HeFT study director and president of the Seattle Institute for Cardiac Research in Washington. "The results give physicians vital information to better manage the care of their heart-failure patients."

Experts estimate that 50 percent of deaths in heart failure are probably due to a chaotic heart-rhythm disorder called ventricular fibrillation. An ICD recognizes the potentially fatal arrhythmia and sends an electric shock to correct it.

"In light of the NIH study, we recommend that [government officials] expand ICD coverage to those Medicare beneficiaries who meet the criteria established in the MADIT II and SCD-HeFT trials," Dr. Cain says. "These results also emphasize the national need to continue to develop and implement new methods to further identify patients who will benefit from lifesaving ICD therapy."

Currently, only about one in four people who would benefit from an ICD actually receive the device.

"This study confirms recent clinical studies which also showed a favorable impact of ICD therapy on total mortality in patients with ischemic heart disease and impaired ventricular function," adds Dr. Cain. "We encourage patients to talk to their doctors to see if they qualify to receive an ICD."