Women Benefit More From Implantable Defibrillators Than Men

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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