Autonomic Control and Substrate Sensitivity New Methods for Risk Stratification in Patients After Myocardial Infarction

Risk stratification after myocardial infarction (MI) is important to select greater-risk patients who warrant more aggressive strategies for prevention of future serious events such as reinfarction or sudden death. The results of the MADIT II (Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation) trial (1) suggested that patients with an ejection fraction (EF) <30% benefited from an implanted cardiac defibrillator. However, this costly procedure has not been universally adopted (2).