e633 Correspondence Letter by Bougouin et al Regarding Article,

We read with great interest the article of Piccini et al1 regarding the prognostic value of sustained ventricular tachycardia or ventricu-lar fibrillation occurring in the setting of non–ST-segment–elevation acute coronary syndromes. Although patients with sustained ven-tricular arrhythmias at the acute phase of myocardial infarction are known to present a significantly increased risk of death during the initial hospitalization period, we strongly agree with the authors on the surprising lack of data regarding long-term survival and mode of death of such patients. Several robust studies assessed the value of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators for primary prevention after recent myocardial infarction in high-risk patients.2 In these studies, prophylactic implantable cardio-verter-defibrillators did not improve overall survival.3 By contrast, in the setting of secondary prevention (ie, in patients who developed sustained ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation during the acute phas