"This was quite an important study. It showed the device is able to recognize life-threatening arrhythmias, so it is safe, and it does not deliver an excessive number of inappropriate shocks. And there were no deaths related to the device," commented Dr. Priori of the University of Pavia (Italy).
"The take-home message is that, yes, we know there are patients where we are reluctant to immediately say that an ICD should be implanted forever, and now we should consider testing with this WCD, which has a low risk of inappropriate shocks and a good record in shocking patients out of the arrhythmia," she added.
The WEARIT-II registry is now expanding via enrollment of patients in Europe and Israel. The registry is funded by Zoll, which markets the WCD. Dr. Kutyifa reported having received research grants from the company as well as from other device manufacturers.