Beschreibung:
<jats:p>The prognosis of patients with severely impaired left ventricular function is poor, with an annual mortality rate of about 50%, and the majority die from sudden cardiac death. Heart transplantation is an accepted therapy for patients with end‐stage heart disease; however, about 30% of candidates for transplantation die from sudden cardiac death while on the waiting list. It has been shown that implantable Cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy has a low surgical mortality and is highly effective in the prevention of sudden death. Therefore, prophylactic ICD implantation may prevent sudden death in patients with end‐stage heart disease while on the waiting list, and it is highly probable that patients with an ICD have a greater chance of survival until a donor heart becomes available. However, this hypothesis still has to be proven by prospective studies.</jats:p>