Baptist Launches Video on Preventing Sudden Cardiac Death

July 11, 2007 - Baptist Cardiovascular Services launches a video interview with Cardiac Electrophysiologist Drew Pickett, M.D., on how implanting a defibrillator can help reduce sudden cardiac death, after a study sponsored by Medtronic Inc. and Wyeth shows that ICDs are a cost-effective therapy.

Also, Dr. Pickett talks about the SCD-HeFT Trial, which is the most recent and largest clinical study to decide who benefits from a defibrillator. Findings from the trial show that ICDs used preventively in people with heart failure and poor heart pumping function have the potential to save more than 350,000 lives annually. These results reinforce evidence from earlier trials and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended reimbursement to Medicare patients eligible for ICD therapy based on the SCD-HeFT clinical study results.

Funded by manufacturer Medtronic and drug maker Wyeth, the study intends to show that ICDs are a cost-effective therapy in this heart failure population and reinforces the fact that defibrillation is the only treatment that can stop a life-threatening heart rhythm once it occurs.

For more information: www.mbhs.org/med_serv/heart/index.htm