Wearable Defibrillators Use Linked with Better Adherence to Medical Therapy

A new observational study suggests that the use of a wearable cardioverter defibrillator was associated with improved clinician use of guideline-directed medical therapy. The authors reviewed electronic medical records of 1,289 patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) between 2013 and 2015. The data included information on the use of guideline-directed medical therapy, as well as implantable cardioverter defibrillator use in some patients. According to the results, the use of a wearable cardioverter defibrillator was linked with better adherence to guideline-directed medical therapy (P<0.001) and was also associated with recommendations for follow-up echocardiographic study.

Mirro M, Keltner E, Roebuck A, Sears S. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 2018;doi:10.1111/pace.13472