Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs)


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Definition

By Mayo Clinic staff

Heart-Healthy Living

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An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) — a pager-sized device that's implanted into your chest — may reduce your risk of dying if the lower chambers of your heart (ventricles) go into a dangerous rhythm and stop beating effectively (cardiac arrest). You may need an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator if you have a dangerously fast heartbeat (ventricular tachycardia) or a chaotic heartbeat that makes it so your heart can't supply enough blood to the rest of your body (ventricular fibrillation).

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators work by detecting and stopping abnormal heartbeats (arrhythmias). An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator continuously monitors your heartbeat and delivers extra beats or electrical shocks to restore a normal heart rhythm when necessary. An ICD differs from a pacemaker — another implantable device sometimes used to treat less dangerous heart rhythms, such as those that occur in the upper chambers of your heart (atria).

References
  1. Implantable cardioverter defibrillator. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/icd/icd_all.html. Accessed March 14, 2013.
  2. Epstein AE, et al. 2012 ACC/AHA/HRS focused update incorporated into the ACC/AHA/HRS 2008 guidelines for device-based therapy of cardiac rhythm abnormalities. Circulation. 2013;127:e283.
  3. Devices that may interfere with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). American Heart Association. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Arrhythmia/PreventionTreatmentofArrhythmia/Devices-that-may-Interfere-with-Implantable-Cardioverter-Defibrillators-ICDs_UCM_448464_Article.jsp. Accessed March 14, 2013.
  4. Living with your implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Arrhythmia/PreventionTreatmentofArrhythmia/Living-With-Your-Implantable-Cardioverter-Defibrillator-ICD_UCM_448462_Article.jsp. Accessed March 14, 2013.
  5. Banning AS, et al. Driving and arrhythmia: A review of scientific basis for international guidelines. European Heart Journal. 2013;34:236.
  6. Epstein AE, et al. Addendum to ''Personal and public safety issues related to arrhythmias that may affect consciousness: Implications for regulation and physician recommendations — A medical/scientific statement from the American Heart Association and the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology" public safety issues in patients with implantable defibrillators. Circulation. 2007;115:1170.
  7. Eifling M, et al. The evaluation and management of electrical storm. Texas Heart Institute Journal. 2011;38:111.
MY00336 June 4, 2013

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