Study Reports Success With Implanted Defibrillators

Implanted defibrillators can save the lives of people with a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, according to a new study. About 500,000 Americans suffer from the condition, which is characterized by excessive thickening of the heart muscle, and 50,000 of them are at high risk of death from atrial fibrillation, an abnormally rapid and irregular heart rhythm.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University implanted defibrillators in 128 high-risk patients. They report in today’s New England Journal of Medicine that over a three-year period, 25% of the subjects suffered a period of fibrillation, and probably would have died had they not been fitted with the devices.

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--Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II