cutaneous complications caused by a pacemaker or defibrillator are widely documented, but the development of a bronchocutaneous fistula has never been described before. we report the case of a 79-year-old man who was admitted to our hospital because of a seemingly superficial cutaneous infection, externalized defibrillator leads, and hemoptysis. bronchoscopical investigation proved the existenc...

conclusions patients who live with implantable cardioverter defibrillators face many concerns and challenges. therefore, the role of nurses in teaching patients before and after implementation is very important. results the challenges of living with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator include: living with fear, concerns about the future, concerns about device malfunction, fearing death du...

background: permanent pacemakers provide effective relief of symptoms and are life-saving in patients with symptomatic heart block. implantable cardioverter defibrillators (icd) are also increasingly recognized as life-saving tools in various groups of patients with malignant ventricular tachyarrhythmias. methods: as part of the “world survey on pacemaker and icd implantations”, a survey of all...

The Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial (MADIT)-II has broadened the indications for cardioverter defibrillator implantation. We present a retrospective study designed to estimate the number of patients in Spain eligible for an implantable defibrillator according to the MADIT-II criteria. From January 1999 to October 2002, 758 consecutive patients were admitted to our center ...

BACKGROUND Patients with cardiac sarcoidosis are at increased risk of ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation. OBJECTIVE We tested the hypothesis that the wearable cardioverter defibrillator can be used to mitigate the risk of sudden cardiac death among cardiac sarcoidosis patients. METHODS A retrospective review of the commercial database identified cardiac sarcoidosis patients who wore the w...

Background—The recently reported Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial (MADIT) showed improved survival in selected asymptomatic patients with coronary disease and nonsustained ventricular tachycardia. The economic consequences of defibrillator management in this patient population are unknown. Methods and Results—Patients were followed up to quantify their use of healthcare se...

BACKGROUND The use and popularity of the biphasic waveform defibrillator as a replacement for the monophasic waveform defibrillator are increasing, but it is unclear whether this can improve the rate of survival among out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients. This study aimed to verify the hypothesis that the outcome of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients who received defibrillation shock wi...

BACKGROUND There is a class I recommendation for implantable cardioverter-defibrillator deactivation discussions to occur between physicians and heart failure patients. Few studies have reported the patient's perspective on the timing of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator deactivation discussions. AIM To determine patient awareness, preferences and timing of implantable cardioverter-defib...