A new study conducted by researchers with the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio suggests new sophisticated heart defibrillators may be associated with an increased risk of hospitalization and death. According to the study, which appears in next week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, newer models featuring built-in pacemakers that supply electrical impulses to the upper and lower heart chambers place patients in danger because they continuously stimulate the right ventricle, which may make pumping action less efficient.

Researchers involved in the study analyzed 506 people with heart disease, with almost half implanted with dual-chamber defibrillators. Within one year of getting the implants, 26.7 percent of the dual-chamber patients died or were hospitalized with heart failure. The researchers halted the study because of the fatal results.