Implanted devices designed to shock the heart into a normal rhythm may not be as effective in women as they are in men, researchers said on Monday.
Researchers at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut and the University of Connecticut evaluated five previous trials of Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and found that ICDs cut the risk of death by 24 percent in men compared with 12 percent in women. ICDs are stopwatch-sized devices placed in the chest to regulate a dangerously fast heart beat with a jolt of electricity.
However, the researchers are not sure why the difference between men and women.