Defibrillators Add to Life
Abstract
Implanted heart defibrillators added a year to the lives of people with irregular heart rhythms, concludes an 8-year study funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The devices sense abnormal heartbeats and shock the heart back to a steady pace. Investigators tracked mortality and health care costs in a nationwide sample of 7600 elderly Medicare patients, matched according to illness severity and prognosis. Half received a defibrillator and half received usual medical care....