BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) in heart failure (HF) patients compared to pharmacologic/conventional management.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: We searched PubMed, Embase, and Springer Link Library databases up to February 10th, 2014. Pooled risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the mortality of the patients with HF were collected and calculated in a fixed-effects model or a random-effects model, as appropriate. Summary effect estimates were also stratified by sex and follow-up time. Egger’s regression asymmetry tests were utilized for publication bias detection.
RESULTS: A total of 7 separate studies including 15 520 patients (10 801 ICD cases and 4719 controls) with HF were considered in the meta-analysis. The overall estimates showed that ICD could statistically significantly reduce the mortality of male (RR=0.73, 95% CI: 0.66–0.80) and female (RR=0.75, 95% CI: 0.63–0.90) patients. In addition, the further stratification subgroup analysis indicated that ICD presented a significant reduction (male: RR=0.72, 95% CI: 0.64–0.81; female: RR=0.69, 95% CI: 0.56–0.85) of mortality after 2–3 years of ICD therapy. The RR (95% CI) effects of mortality after 4–5 years of ICD therapy for males and females were 0.76 (0.51–1.14) and 0.96 (0.68–1.37), respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis suggests that ICD could reduce HF patient mortality despite the sex difference.

Keywords: Defibrillators, Implantable - utilization, Female, Germany, Heart Failure - prevention & control, Humans, Male, Models, Statistical, Odds Ratio, PubMed, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Regression Analysis, Sensitivity and Specificity, Sex Factors, United States