Wait-and-see policy on heart devices puts lives at risk, says UK charity

Patients are needlessly being put at risk of dying from heart problems because they have to wait months to be fitted with lifesaving implantable defibrillators, experts have said.

Two million people in the UK live with coronary heart disease, which is a leading cause of heart failure. Those at the highest risk of dying as a result of heart failure may be offered an implantable cardioverter defibrillator device (ICD). These can kickstart the heart and may save their life.

Patients have to wait at least 90 days before they can be fitted with an ICD while doctors wait to see if stents and medication might improve their health. However, a large study funded by the British Heart Foundation suggests there is little or no benefit to waiting, and the charity says lives are needlessly being put at risk as a result.

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, an associate medical director at the BHF, said the results had significant implications.

“The findings suggest that the current ‘wait and see’ approach to find out whether a patient’s heart function improves with medication and stents isn’t always best, and that an unnecessary wait could even be the difference between life and death,” she said.

“The results from this large UK-wide trial could lead to re-evaluation of how best to treat people living with severe heart failure due to coronary heart disease.”

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Source: The Guardian, 11 September 2023