Total Management for the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death

To prevent sudden cardiac death (SCD) in various heart diseases, risk assessment for SCD is necessary in each patient. Approaches to the prevention of SCD in high-risk patients consist of pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies. The effect of anti-arrhythmic drugs (AADs) and catheter ablation for VT/VF is limited but useful to reduce VT/VF episodes in some patients. On the other hand, an ICD is proven effective therapy for the prevention of SCD in high-risk patients, but associated with complications, especially high complication rate in young active individuals.
In this symposium, we’d like to share the latest evidence about risk assessment in patients with borderline indication for ICD, benefits and harms of AADs or ICD in various heart diseases, and discuss the best total management to prevent SCD.