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News
Defibrillators are doing their job in HCM — globally. A landmark multicenter study spanning 25 centers across six continents found that implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) effectively prevent sudden cardiac death in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients, with device failure rates as low as 0.4%. Survival rates remained strong at 10 and even 20 years, reinforcing that ICD protection in HCM is truly a lifelong strategy.
Defibrillators are doing their job in HCM — globally.
A sweeping new study published in Circulation analyzed data from 3,387 HCM patients across 25 centers on six continents — from the US and Europe to Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America — tracking ICD outcomes from 1992 to 2024. The verdict: ICDs are highly effective at preventing sudden cardiac death in HCM, with remarkably low device failure and disease-related mortality rates across diverse healthcare systems.
Over a mean follow-up of ~7 years, 16% of patients received an appropriate ICD shock for a life-threatening arrhythmia — rising to 35% in secondary prevention patients. Notably, 16% of primary prevention patients received their first appropriate shock 10+ years after implantation, underscoring that ICD protection must be viewed as a lifelong commitment, not just a short-term safeguard.
By the Numbers
Why it matters: Unlike other cardiomyopathies where an ICD shock often signals worsening heart failure and high mortality, HCM patients fare remarkably well long-term after device activation. This global dataset strengthens the case for ICD use in HCM while also highlighting the need for better tools to identify which patients truly need — or can safely forgo — a device.
