Doi:10.1016/j.amjcard.2005.02.02
Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator Efficacy in
Patients With Heart Failure and Left Ventricular
Dysfunction (from the MADIT II Population)
Wojciech Zareba, MD, PhD, Katarzyna Piotrowicz, MD, Scott McNitt, MS, and
Arthur J. Moss, MD, for the MADIT II Investigators
The Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation
The Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Trial II
Trial II demonstrated a significant 31% reduction in
(MADIT II) demonstrated that postinfarction pa-
the risk of mortality in postinfarction patients with low
tients with greatly reduced left ventricular function
ejection fraction (EF <
30%). Recently, results from the
benefit from prophylactic therapy with implantable
Sudden Death in Heart Failure Trial indicated that a
cardioverter-defibrillators There was a 31%
subgroup of patients with New York Heart Associa-
reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality in patientsrandomized to an ICD compared with patients receiv-
tion (NYHA) class III heart failure had less benefit
ing conventional therapy with high usage of  block-
from an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD)
ers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and sta-
than patients with less advanced heart failure. This
tins. Recently, findings from the Sudden Death in
study evaluates the association between NYHA class,
Heart Failure Trial (SCD-HeFT) were presented, and
EF, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels as measures
ICD therapy effectively reduced mortality in patients
of heart failure and left ventricular dysfunction, and
with ischemic and nonischemic The
ICD benefit in reducing mortality as well as the asso-
magnitude in the mortality risk reduction was 23%,
ciation of these parameters with ICD therapy for ven-
similar to the 31% reduction observed in MADIT II.
tricular tachyarrhythmias. NYHA class I was identi-
However, SCD-HeFT patients with New York Heart
fied in 442 patients (36%), class II in 425 (35%), and
Association (NYHA) class III heart failure did not
class III in 350 patients (29%). EF
receive significant benefit from ICD therapy (hazard
<
20% was present
ratio 1.16; 95% confidence interval 0.84 to 1.61),
in 472 patients (38%), EF of 21% to 25% in 359
whereas the benefit was evident in patients in NYHA
patients (29%), and EF of 26% to 30% in 401 patients
class II. Previously, data from the the Antiarrhythmics
(33%). BUN <
25 mg/dl was present in 850 patients
Versus Implantable and trials,
(70%) and >25 mg/dl in 368 patients (30%). Patients
which included patients with a higher ejection fraction
with higher NYHA class and BUN had higher mortal-
(EF) than those in MADIT II and SCD-HeFT, indi-
ity (34%) and a higher risk of arrhythmic events
cated that patients with more advanced left ventricular
(33% to 35%) than patients in lower functional groups
dysfunction benefitted more from ICDs than those
(16% to 20%). EF did not differentiate the risk. There
with higher EFs. Therefore, we conducted a detailed
was no evidence for significant interactions between
secondary analysis of the MADIT II population to
mortality, ICD therapy, and tested parameters. In
determine the efficacy of ICD therapy in high-risk
conclusion, patients with more advanced heart failure
subgroups defined by NYHA functional class, EF, andblood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels.
have a higher risk of mortality and arrhythmic events
than patients with less severe disease. However,
Details of the MADIT II have been previously
there is no significant difference in the benefit from
Briefly, MADIT II enrolled patients who
ICD therapy among the above subgroups of patients
had a myocardial infarction within 1 month and left
in the Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implanta-
ventricular EF ⱕ30%. Patients who had undergone
tion Trial. 䊚
2005 by Excerpta Medica Inc.
recent revascularization procedures, those in NYHA
(Am J Cardiol 2005;95:1487–1491)
class IV at enrollment, and patients with major co-morbidities were excluded. Patients were randomizedto ICD or conventional therapy (3:2 ratio), with highusage of  blockers, angiotensin-converting enzymeinhibitors, and statins in both groups.
Patients had data collected with regard to left ven-
From the Heart Research Follow-up Program, Cardiology Unit, Depart-
tricular EF, NYHA class, and BUN levels at enroll-
ment of Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester,New York. This report was supported by a research grant from
ment. EF, reflecting myocardial damage and the re-
Guidant Corporation, St. Paul, Minnesota, to the University of Roch-
modeling process after myocardial infarction, was
ester School of Medicine and Dentistry. Dr. Zareba's address is: Heart
divided into 3 subcategories: ⱕ20%, 21% to 25%, and
Research Follow-up Program, Box 653, University of Rochester Medical
26% to 30%. The NYHA class, reflecting functional
Center, Rochester, New York 14642-8653. E-mail: wojciech_zareba@
response to left ventricular decompensation, was cat-
urmc.rochester.edu. Manuscript received December 28, 2004; re-vised manuscript received and accepted February 9, 2005.
egorized (based on direct examination of patients by
2005 by Excerpta Medica Inc. All rights reserved.
0002-9149/05/$–see front matter
The American Journal of Cardiology Vol. 95 June 15, 2005
TABLE 1 Two-year Cardiac Event Rates in Studied Subgroups of MADIT II Patients
Mortality in Conventional Arm
Cardiac Events in ICD Arm
The p values are by log-rank statistics comparing 2-year event rates from Kaplan-Meier curves.
SCD ⫽ sudden cardiac death, classified as described by Greenberg et
FIGURE 2. Cumulative probability of appropriate ICD therapy in
FIGURE 1. Cumulative probability of survival in MADIT II patients
MADIT II patients randomized to ICD therapy by NYHA class (A ),
randomized to conventional therapy by NYHA class (A), EF (B), and
EF (B), and BUN levels (C). The p value was estimated by log-rank
BUN levels (C). The p value was estimated by log-rank statistics.
statistics. VF ⴝ
ventricular fibrillation; VT ⴝ
ventricular tachycardia.
1488 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CARDIOLOGY姞
FIGURE 3. Cumulative probability of survival in MADIT II patients randomized to conventional versus ICD therapy: patients in (A)
NYHA class, (B) NYHA class II, and (C) NYHA class III; and patients with (D) EF of 26% to 30%, (E) EF of 21% to 25%, and (F) EF of
<21%. HR ⴝ
hazard ratio.
trained study nurses) into 3 subgroups: class I, II, and
randomized to ICD treatment. Antitachycardia pac-
III, separately. BUN levels were dichotomized at ⱕ25
ing was programmed on at enrollment in 41% of
and ⬎25 mg/dl based on our previous
ICD patients.
indicating that this cutoff is highly predictive of car-
Kaplan-Meier curves with log-rank statistics were
diac events in postinfarction patients.
used to analyze time to end point events. Cox propor-
The analysis was focused on ICD efficacy, i.e.,
tional-hazards analyses were used to determine hazard
comparison of survival in patients randomized to ICD
ratios for risk of mortality and arrhythmic events in
therapy versus conventional treatment in each evalu-
respective subgroups with interaction terms tested for
ated subgroup of We also evaluated the
their significance. A p value ⬍0.05 was considered
association between the aforementioned selected
variables and mortality and sudden cardiac death in
The MADIT II population consisted of 1,232 pa-
conventionally treated patients. Sudden cardiac death
tients (1,040 men and 192 women; median age 65
was based on modified Hinkle-Thaler criteria used
years). Patients had documented myocardial infarction
by an independent review The association
on average 5 years before enrollment. Their mean EF
between these clinical variables defining high-risk
was 23% (median 25%). Half of the patients had
subgroups and appropriate ICD therapy (antitachy-
undergone coronary artery bypass grafting. Patients
cardia pacing or ICD shocks) for ventricular tachy-
were treated pharmacologically with  blockers
cardia or ventricular fibrillation (documented by
interrogated ICDs) was also analyzed in patients
(70%), and statins (66%). The 3:2 randomization lead
NYHA classes I and II. The risk of
TABLE 2 Cox Proportional Hazards Ratios for the Appropriate Implantable
ventricular tachycardia or ventricular
Cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) Therapy in Studied Subgroups of MADIT IIPatients
fibrillation, which required appropri-ate ICD therapy, followed a similar
Appropriate ICD Therapy*
pattern although patients
in NYHA class II had a 2-year risk ofarrhythmic events closer to that of
patients in NYHA class III compared
with patients in NYHA class I
Antitachycardia pacing was
administered as therapy, converting
arrhythmia without a need for ICD
shock in 12% of patients in NYHA
class I, in 13% patients in class II,
and in 15% patients in class III. Cox
proportional-hazards analysis dem-
*Appropriate ICD therapy defined as antitachycardia pacing or ICD shock to terminate ventricular
onstrated a 40% higher risk for ap-
tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation.
propriate ICD therapy in patients
⫽ confidence interval; HR ⫽ hazard ratio.
with NYHA class II than class I heartfailure, and an 80% higher risk in
TABLE 3 Cox Proportional Hazards Ratios for the Implantable Cardioverter-
patients with NYHA class III than
defibrillator (ICD) Effectiveness (ICD vs conventional therapy) in Studied
class I heart failure Ele-
Subgroups of MADIT II Patients
vated BUN also indicated a 40% in-
Mortality—ICD vs Conventional
creased risk for appropriate ICD ther-
apy compared with patients with BUN
ⱕ25 mg/dl.
The effectiveness of ICD therapy
in studied subgroups was evaluated
by comparing mortality between
both arms of the study. In all sub-
groups, patients treated with ICDs
had better survival than those taking
conventional therapy and
and There was no evi-
dence of a significant p value for
interaction between mortality, ther-
Abbreviations as in
apy, and examined subgroups, afinding indicating that patients in dif-ferent groups by NYHA class, EF,
to 490 patients being randomized to conventional ther-
and BUN levels had similar degrees of mortality re-
apy and 742 to ICD therapy.
duction with an ICD.
Subgroups of patients by NYHA class consisted of
Additionally, we analyzed ICD effectiveness in
442 patients (36%) in class I, 425 (35%) in class II,
patients having none, 1, 2, or 3 studied risk factors
and 350 (29%) in class III. There were 472 patients
dichotomized as NYHA ⬎II versus ⱕII, EF ⱖ25%
(38%) with EF ⱕ20%, 359 (29%) with EF 21% to
versus ⬍25%, and BUN ⱖ25 versus ⬍25 mg/dl.
25%, and 401 (33%) with EF 26% to 30%. Subgroups
There were 382 patients with none of these factors
of patients by BUN levels consisted of 850 patients
with a hazard ratio of 0.69, 452 patients with 1 factor
(70%) with BUN ⱕ25 mg/dl and 368 (30%) with
with a hazard ratio of 0.67, 274 patients with 2 factors
BUN ⬎25 mg/dl.
and a hazard ratio of 0.63, and 95 patients with all 3
shows the 2-year cumulative probability
factors present and a hazard ratio of 0.67. There were
(from Kaplan-Meier curves) of cardiac events in pa-
no significant differences among these hazard ratios.
tients randomized to conventional and ICD therapy,
In this study, we analyzed 3 parameters reflecting
NYHA class III had 2 times higher mortality than
signs and symptoms of more advanced heart failure:
patients in NYHA class I or II Elevated
EF, NYHA class, and BUN levels. They appear to
BUN levels identified a similarly high (34%) risk
represent somewhat different features of decompen-
subset of patients Although there was a
sated hearts, but they did not correlate well with each
trend toward increasing mortality with decreasing EF
other (only 95 patients had all 3 parameters present).
the separation was less significant than
EF is a reflection of a damaged and remodeled heart
NYHA class and BUN levels.
after myocardial infarction. The NYHA class provides
Sudden cardiac death was observed 2 times more
insight into functional consequences of myocardial
often in patients in NYHA class III than in patients in
and circulatory changes. BUN is a measure of renal
1490 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CARDIOLOGY姞
failure than in patients with lower classes. Because ourfindings from MADIT II also demonstrate that patientsin NYHA class III benefit at least to the same extent aspatients with less expressed heart failure, the questionneeds to be asked: what is the reason for the discrepancybetween the findings from those studies? Patient popu-lations appear very similar, but SCD-HeFT includedpatients with EFs 31% to 35%. This difference wasunlikely to contribute to the observe differences in ICDeffectiveness by NYHA class. However, there is a dif-ference in the ICD therapy administered in SCD-HeFTand MADIT II trials. In the SCD-HeFT, ICD therapyconsisted of ICD shocks only without antitachycardiapacing enabled, whereas in MADIT II, both antitachy-cardia pacing and ICD shocks were used. Antitachycar-dia pacing successfully terminated most documentedtachyarrhythmia episodes (58%) in MADIT II withoutthe need for ICD shocks in patients who had antitachy-cardia pacing Similar findings were reportedby the Antiarrhythmics Versus Implantable Defibrilla-tors It is conceivable that patients withNYHA class III heart failure in the SCD-HeFT hadventricular tachycardia or fibrillation episodes alreadylong and advanced enough that ICD therapy had lessereffectiveness in converting rhythm. However, in MADIT
FIGURE 4. Cumulative probability of survival in MADIT II patients
II, tachyarrhythmias in patients in NYHA class III were
randomized to conventional versus ICD therapy by BUN levels.
treated in the earlier stage before full "warm-up" and
Abbreviation as in
development of nonconvertible ventricular fibrillation.
Fifteen percent of patients in NYHA class III in the
function that correlates well with a degree of decom-
MADIT II had antitachycardia pacing therapy as the
pensation in heart
only modality terminating arrhythmia episodes.
Patients with more advanced disease measured by
NYHA class and BUN levels had a 2 times highermortality than those in the respective comparison
1. Moss AJ, Zareba W, Hall WJ, Klein H, Wilber DJ, Cannom DS, Daubert
groups. These expected associations were paralleled
JP, Higgins SL, Brown MW, Andrews ML. Prophylactic implantation of adefibrillator in patients with myocardial infarction and reduced ejection
by a substantially increased risk of arrhythmic events
fraction.
N Engl J Med 2002;346:877– 883.
in these more advanced groups, indicating that they
2. Bardy GH, Lee KL, Mark DB, Poole JE, Packer DL, Boineau R, Domanski M,
should benefit from ICD therapy. In addition, our
Troutman C, Anderson J, Johnson G, et al. Amiodarone or an implantablecardioverter-defibrillator for congestive heart failure.
N Engl J Med 2005;352:
analysis confirmed that the benefit in patients with
more advanced disease was not significantly different
3. The Antiarrhythmics versus Implantable Defibrillators (AVID) Investigators.
from the benefit observed in patients with less ad-
A comparison of antiarrhythmic-drug therapy with implantable defibrillators inpatients resuscitated from near-fatal ventricular arrhythmias.
N Engl J Med
vanced disease: a reduction in the risk of mortality in
the order of 28% to 35% regardless of differences in
4. Moss AJ, Hall WJ, Cannom DS, Daubert JP, Higgins SL, Klein H, Levine JH,
the baseline mortality risk between subgroups. EF is a
Saksena S, Waldo AL, Wilber D, Brown MW, Heo M. Improved survival with animplanted defibrillator in patients with coronary disease at high risk for ventric-
confirmed predictor of total and sudden death, but it
ular arrhythmia. Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial Investi-
was of lesser prognostic value among patients in the
gators.
N Engl J Med 1996;335:1933–1940.
MADIT II. The MADIT II entry criterion of EF
5. Moss AJ, Bigger JT Jr, Odoroff CL. Postinfarction risk stratification.
Prog
Cardiovasc Dis 1987;29:389 – 412.
30% (mean 23%) limited the spectrum of patients
6. Greenberg H, Case RB, Moss AJ, Brown MW, Carroll ER, Andrews ML.
with left ventricular dysfunction. The limited accuracy of
Analysis of mortality events in the Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implan-
EF calculation and inadequacy of EF to reflect regional
tation Trial (MADIT-II).
J Am Coll Cardiol 2004;43:1459 –1465.
7. Aronson D, Mittleman MA, Burger AJ. Elevated blood urea nitrogen level as
wall motion abnormalities may be additional factors con-
a predictor of mortality in patients admitted for decompensated heart failure.
Am J
tributing to a decreased predictive value of EF within the
Med 2004;116:466 – 473.
MADIT II population.
8. Defibrillators in Non-Ischemic Cardiomyopathy Treatment Evaluation (DEF-
INITE) Investigators. Prophylactic defibrillator implantation in patients with
The SCD-HeFT enrolled patients with ischemic and
nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy.
N Engl J Med 2004;350:2151–2158.
nonischemic cardiomyopathy, but reported findings re-
9. Moss AJ, Greenberg H, Case RB, Zareba W, Hall WJ, Brown MW, Daubert
garding lack of benefit from ICDs are relevant for both
JP, McNitt S, Andrews ML, Elkin AD. Long-term clinical course of patients aftertermination of ventricular tachyarrhythmia by an implanted defibrillator.
Circu-
subsets. Defibrillators in DEFibrillators In Non-Ischemic
lation 2004;110:3760 –3765.
cardiomyopathy Treatment Evaluation showed that
10. Klein RC, Raitt MH, Wilkoff BL, Beckman KJ, Coromilas J, Wyse DG,
in nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy, benefit from
Friedman PL, Martins JB, Epstein AE, Hallstrom AP, et al. Analysis of implant-able cardioverter defibrillator therapy in the Antiarrhythmics Versus Implantable
ICD was greater in patients with NYHA class III heart
Defibrillators (AVID) Trial.
J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol 2003;14:940 –948.
Source: http://medico.ru/arhiv/MadittII.pdf
NATURE Vol 465 20 May 2010 parasites (Toxoplasma, Leishmania and active compounds — and an earlier, partial y These reports1,2 offer tremendous opportunities trypano somes) and on replicating human cel described set8 identified in a high-throughput to develop the next generation of antimalarial lines, and found that most of the compounds screen against P. falciparum — should be a first drugs. They also sound a call for the academic
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