BACKGROUND Tetralogy of Fallot is the most common form of congenital heart disease in implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) recipients, yet little is known about the value of ICDs in this patient population. METHODS AND RESULTS We conducted a multicenter cohort study in high-risk patients with Tetralogy of Fallot to determine actuarial rates of ICD discharges, identify risk factors, an...

Modelling A Markov model was constructed to simulate the clinical and economic outcomes associated with ICD and control therapy. The model served also to extrapolate short-term trial-based results to a lifetime horizon. The cycle length was one month. Patients who received an ICD were at risk of death from the implantation procedure. Patients who did not die from the procedure and patients assi...

BACKGROUND Skin erosion is a dire complication of implantable cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators. Classical treatments involve removal of the entire generator and lead systems, however, these may result in fatal complications. In this study, we present our experience with a simplified salvage technique for exposed implantable cardiac electronic devices (ICEDs) without removing the implanted ...

Sudden cardiac death is a major public health problem, affecting 500,000 patients in the United States annually. An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) can terminate malignant ventricular arrhythmias and has been shown to improve survival in high-risk populations. Although sudden cardiac death is a heterogeneous condition, left ventricular ejection fraction of 35 percent or less remain...

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...

Heart failure is one of the most frequent diseases and a leading cause for hospital admission and death in Germany and other industrialized countries. Two types of impedance sensors are presented that promise to allow improved disease monitoring and hence better therapy adaptation in heart failure patients with an implanted defibrillator: thoracic impedance to estimate the lung fluid status of ...

Differences in the use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) have been reported, but the extent to which they have widened after the publication of major clinical trials supporting their use is unclear. Using data on Medicare beneficiaries, the authors determined annual age-standardized population-based utilization rates of ICDs for white men, black men, white women, and black women...

The first concept of an implantable defibrillator was published in 1970 by Dr. Michel Mirowski and his colleague and friend Dr. Morton Mower. Within 30 years implantable defibrillator therapy has gone through a breathtaking development. However, it started with a vision and a concept of one man, who went through difficult times, personally, and in his intention to make his idea of a device that...