Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial (SCD-HeFT)

SCD-HeFT, sponsored by National Institutes of Health, was designed to study whether amiodarone or an implantable cardioverter defibrillator reduces all-cause mortality compared to placebo in ischemic and nonischemic patients on conventional medical therapy with NYHA class II/III and an ejection fraction ≤ 35%.

The SCD-HeFT trial randomized 2521 patients from 148 clinical centers in the United States, Canada, and New Zealand.

The trial results showed that ICDs provide a significant survival benefit for patients with NYHA class II/III and an EF ≤ 35% vs. placebo:

• 23% relative reduction in risk for all-cause mortality at average 45.5 month follow-up
• 7.2% absolute reduction in risk for all-cause mortality at 60 month follow-up

The SCD-HeFT results are published in the January 20, 2005, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

ICD Instructions for Use Summary