Subcutaneous Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators: Expanding the Scope of Technology

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators: expanding indications and technologies.

CONTEXT Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a major challenge facing contemporary cardiology. For an increasing number of patients, the current standard of care for the treatment and prevention of SCD is the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). Since its introduction, there have been numerous advances in ICD technology, and indications for its use have expanded greatly in the past year. OB...

Subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillators and sternal wires: a cautionary tale.

Implantable transvenous cardioverter-defibrillators.

BACKGROUND Implantable transvenous cardioverter-defibrillators offer a significant opportunity to decrease procedural morbidity and medical costs in the care of patients with life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias who otherwise would have required a sternotomy or thoracotomy for device insertion. The purpose of this study was to examine prospectively the safety, efficacy, and limitations asso...

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators.

N Engl J Med 2003;349:1836-47. Copyright © 2003 Massachusetts Medical Society. espite advances in emergency medical systems and in techniques of resuscitation, sudden death from cardiac arrest remains a major public health problem. Most persons who have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest do not survive. 1,2 Those who are resuscitated may have severe, long-term cognitive impairment and motor impa...

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators.

udden cardiac death is a common problem, and increasing numbers of patients are surviving a first episode of a life threatening ventricular arrhythmia. In the absence of an acute myocardial infarction, patients who survive either ventricular fibrilla-tion or sustained ventricular tachycardia have a high risk of further episodes, which may be fatal. 1 Until recently, class I and class III antiar...