The design of bug-free and safe medical device software is challenging, especially in complex implantable devices that control and actuate organs in unanticipated contexts. Safety recalls of pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators between 1990 and 2000 affected over 600,000 devices. Of these, 200,000 or 41%, were due to firmware issues and their effect continues to increase in fr...

After the introduction of the implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) in clinical practice by Mirowski in 1980 [Mirowski et al., 1980] the first available devices offered only a basic ventricular pacing option. Since approximately 5-20% of patients with an indication for ICD therapy following implantation criteria at that time (secondary prevention) needed antibradycardia pacing as well, t...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) undergoing endoscopic electrosurgery (EE) are at a risk of electromagnetic interference (EMI). We aimed to analyze the effects of EE in CIED patients. METHODS Patients with CIED who underwent EE procedures such as snare polypectomy, endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatog...

case presentation in this report, we describe a case of a cied infection in a 49-year-old female, admitted in 2013 to a hospital in copenhagen, denmark, with persistent staphylococcus epidermidis bacteremia without any clinical signs of generator-pocket infection and several negative tee studies. conclusions the diagnosis of cied infection was established with fluorodeoxyglucose positron emissi...

BACKGROUND Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an important diagnostic modality currently unavailable for millions of patients because of the presence of implantable cardiac devices. We sought to evaluate the diagnostic utility and safety of noncardiac and cardiac MRI at 1.5T using a protocol that incorporates device selection and programming and limits the estimated specific absorption rate of...

BACKGROUND Pacemakers have been available for 50 years, and implantable cardiac defibrillators for 25. Clear indications for each have been established on the basis of data from randomized clinical trials (RCTs). METHODS This review article is the product of a collaborative effort by a cardiologist and a cardiac surgeon. The authors arrived at a consensus through a selective review of the lit...

There has been a significant increase in the number of patients receiving cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIED) over the last two decades. CIED infection represents a serious complication after CIED implantation and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Recently, newly advanced technologies have offered attractive and suitable therapeutic alternatives. Notably, ...