Aims The treatment with the wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) may protect against sudden cardiac death (SCD) as a bridging therapy until a cardioverter defibrillator may be implanted. Data regarding the impact of WCD on the outcome of patients according gender differences are limited. We analysed a consecutive patient cohort wearing WCD to explore gender differences. Methods and results We analysed 153 consecutive patients of whom were 118 males and 35 females (age, 60±13 vs. 60±16 years old; p=0.88). More males receiving WCD as compared to females suffered from ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) (41% vs. 23%; p=0.05), while females were diagnosed with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM) (60% vs. 42%); p=0.05). The wear time of WCD was equivalent in both groups (21±4 in males vs. 22±3 hours/days in females; p=0.18; and 65±42 in males vs. 65±43 days in females; p=0.96). In both groups, the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) improved in males from 29±10% to 41±12% and in females from 28±12% to 45±13%; p=0.12. At 6-12 month-follow-up, the LVEF increased more in females as compared to males (40% vs. 17%; p=0.003). The rate of rehospitalization due to cardiovascular cause and all-cause-mortality were comparable in both groups at 6-12 month-follow-up (55% in male vs. 54% in female group; p=0.93) (9% in male vs. 11% in female group; p=0.71). Conclusion Compliance for wearing of WCD was excellent regardless of gender. During follow-up, LVEF improved more in females as compared to males. All-cause mortality and the rate of rehospitalization were comparable in both groups.

Aims The treatment with the wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) may protect against sudden cardiac death (SCD) as a bridging therapy until a cardioverter-defibrillator may be implanted. We analyzed in a multicenter setting a consecutive patient cohort wearing WCD to explore gender differences. Methods and results We analyzed 708 consecutive patients, 579 from whom were males and 129 females (age, 60.5±14 vs. 61.6±17 years old; p=0.44). All patients were divided into age quartiles for analysis. While the rate of ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) as a cause of prescription of WCD was significantly higher in males as compared to females (42.7% vs. 26.4%; p=0.001), females received it more frequently due to non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM) (55.8% vs. 42.7%); p=0.009). The wear time of WCD was equivalent in both groups (21.1±4.3 hours/days in males vs. 21.5±4.4 hours/days in females; p=0.27; and 62.6±44.3 days in males vs. 56.5±39 days in females; p=0.15). Mortality was comparable in both groups at 2-year-follow-up (6.8% in males vs. 9.7% in females; p=0.55). Appropriate WCD shocks and the incidence of device implantations were similar in both groups (2.4% in males vs. 3.9% in females; p=0.07) (35.1% in males vs. 31.8% in females; p=0.37), respectively. In age quartile analysis, compliance was observed more in older patients as compared to adult patients (87.8% vs. 68.3%; p<0.001). Conclusion Compliance for wearing WCD was excellent regardless of gender. Furthermore, mortality and the incidence of device implantations were comparable in both groups. Appropriate WCD shocks tended to be higher in females as compared to males.