Usefulness of the wearable cardioverter-defibrillator in patients at high risk for sudden cardiac death.

Background: Wearable cardioverter-defibrillators (WCD) have been available in Japan since April 2014, but their application is still limited. METHODS AND 

Results: We report 9 patients with a WCD applied between April and September 2014. All patients were at high risk of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. During WCD use, 1 patient had sustained ventricular tachycardia and successful shock delivery; 6 (67%) subsequently underwent implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy, while 2 had no requirement because of reduced risk, and 1 died of heart failure during WCD use.

Conclusions: WCD is useful during acute-phase care of high-risk patients, and may help to avoid unnecessary ICD implantation.