What does the term “primary prevention” mean?
Primary prevention refers to patients who have not yet had an incidence or episode of a particular medical condition – in this case an abnormally rapid heart rhythm known as ventricular tachycardia (VT) or ventricular fibrillation (VF), often leading to sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) or sudden cardiac death (SCD). Secondary prevention refers to patients who have survived these conditions, and receive a particular therapy in response to the episode. Secondary prevention trials, such as AVID, CASH and CIDS, have shown a significant mortality benefit for patients who receive ICDs over those who receive just drug therapy. However, recent primary prevention trials (MADIT, MUSTT, and MADIT II) have shown that people who have not yet suffered SCA also benefit greatly from the protection of an ICD.
