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Women Benefit More From Implantable Defibrillators Than Men

Findings seen for ventricular arrhythmias or death at one year for patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathy

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Sept. 2, 2025 (HealthDay News) — There is a lower risk of one-year ventricular arrhythmias or death in women with nonischemic cardiomyopathy and an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) compared with men, according to a study published in the August issue of eClinicalMedicine.

Valentina Kutyifa, M.D., Ph.D., from University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, and colleagues conducted a prespecified interim analysis of the BIO-LIBRA study to assess characteristics, medical therapy, and ventricular tachyarrhythmias (VT/VF) or mortality at 12 months in 1,000 patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathy and ICD or a cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D).

The researchers found that women had a lower risk for VT/VF or death versus men through 12 months (hazard ratio [HR], 0.49), driven by a lower risk for VT/VF (HR, 0.46). These associations persisted even after adjustments for left ventricular ejection fraction or QRS duration. There were no significant differences reported by ICD versus CRT-D.

“This is the first study that had a large enough number of females enrolled to show this difference,” Kutyifa said in a statement. “We learned that patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathy do well with these devices, but they still have a residual risk of developing life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias or dying, and this risk is lower in females.”

Several authors disclosed ties to BIOTRONIK, which funded the study.


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