First ICD implantation performed for ESCAPE-ICD registry in Latin America

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Biotronik has announced that the first ICD implantation has been performed on a patient enrolled in the BIOTRONIK ESCAPE-ICD registry in Latin America.

ESCAPE-ICD is a large-scale observational study sponsored by Biotronik and designed to tackle the alarming lack of data on sudden cardiac death in Latin America.

“The aim of the ESCAPE-ICD registry is to evaluate the size of the Latin American population at risk of sudden cardiac death and to collect clinical evidence so that we can provide primary prevention information to physicians,” said William Uribe, president of the Colombian College of Electrophysiology and principal investigator of the study.


Despite sudden cardiac death being a major cause of death world-wide, there is little epidemiological data about its prevalence in the countries involved in the registry: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Venezuela.


“We are delighted to be taking part in the ESCAPE-ICD registry and to have performed the first ICD implantation on a patient who was at risk of sudden cardiac death. This registry has been long-awaited and we anticipate that we will be able to gather more data to help us address and prevent the problem of sudden death in our patients,” said Luis E Aguinaga, Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiologist at Private Center of Cardiology (Centro Privado de Cardiología), Tucumán, Argentina.


The study consists of two stages: the first will include 12,500 patients in order to evaluate the prevalence of patients at risk and the second stage will be used to compare patients who are only taking medical treatment with patients who have had an ICD implanted.


“Primary prevention of sudden cardiac death is a subject that is long overdue to come to the forefront in Latin America. It is a great scientific challenge to identify patients at high risk of sudden cardiac death and analyse their incidence, their geographical distribution, and existing differences with other areas in the world. Biotronik’s ESCAPE ICD registry will help provide physicians in Latin America the necessary data to identify patients and provide the best possible treatment,” said Sergio J Dubner, principal investigator of the study.