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Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs)
By Sharonne N. Hayes
Small, implanted defibrillators are like having a paramedic at your side 24 hours a day to rescue your heart from deadly arrhythmias.
A longtime patient of mine, “Mr. P.,” went to the emergency room after he felt the implantable cardioverter defibrillator, or ICD, inside his chest shock his heart twice in the night. The pacemaker-size device inside him had detected a life-threatening abnormal heartbeat and had responded by administering electric shocks that set his heart back into normal rhythm.
Electronic records in the device later showed that it actually had corrected four episodes of irregular heart rhythms that night, but Mr. P. felt only two.
Why is an ICD needed?
We’ve all seen TV scenes of paramedics leaning over an unconscious patient and yelling “clear!” Those are depictions of defibrillation, which sometimes is the only way to stop certain heart arrhythmias that kill about 300,000 U.S. adults each year.
Sudden cardiac death occurs when the electrical signals that control the lower chambers of the heart, or ventricles, suddenly—and without warning—cause rapid and chaotic arrhythmia, or ventricular fibrillation. When this kind of fibrillation occurs, the heart can’t effectively pump blood. Within seconds the person loses consciousness. Without immediate emergency help, death occurs in minutes.
Continued on Page 2: How Does an ICD Work? |
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