Ambrosy AP, et al. - In this post hoc analysis, researchers investigated the impact of a recent hospitalization for heart failure (HF) before implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) placement on subsequent outcomes in a population of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the National Cardiovascular Data Registry’s ICD Registry with a known diagnosis of HF and an ejection fraction ≤35% underdoing a new ICD placement for primary prevention. Using multivariable logistic regression models were used. A total of 11,563 patients who were currently hospitalized for HF, 6,252 hospitalized for HF within 3 months, and hospitalized for HF >3 months previously or had no previous hospitalizations for HF (n=63,365) were included and examined. A higher rate of periprocedural complications and an increased risk of death were observed in older patients currently or recently hospitalized for HF undergoing initial ICD placement for primary prevention vs those receiving an ICD without recent HF hospitalization.