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In the placement of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, as in many other procedures, the experience and expertise of the performing physician is of critical importance, not only with regard not only to patient outcomes but also to sensible deployment of resources. In an analysis of data from the national ICD Registry, researchers assessed the association between operator certification and outcome with regard to two endpoints: the incidence of procedural complications and the implantation of devices that also deliver cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT-D) in patients eligible to receive them.
Of 111,293 ICD placement procedures done in the U.S. between January 2006 and June 2007, nearly 71% were performed by electrophysiologists. Comp…