Sudden Death Prior to Pediatric Heart Transplantation: Would Implantable Defibrillators Improve Outcome?

The overall incidence of sudden death in children awaiting heart transplantation is low; therefore, uniform implantation of ICDs for the primary prevention of sudden death is unlikely to improve survival in this population. Children with ischemic cardiomyopathy appear to have a higher risk of sudden death and may benefit from ICD therapy.