An Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator is a battery powered device placed under your skin, beneath the collarbone, that is connected to your heart by one or more wires (leads) and keep track of your heartbeat. The ICD detects dangerous heart rhythms (arrhythmias) then sends electrical signals that shock your heart out of the dangerous rhythms and allow normal rhythm to resume.
The Defibrillator is utilized to correct ventricular fibrillation. This is a condition wherein there is disorganized and rapid trembling of the heart muscles instead of the normal rhythmic beat. The patient is given a jolt of current electricity from this device, which is directed in the heart to get it back to its original rhythmic beat. This is done by placing a pair of metal paddles on the patient's chest.
The shock stops individual muscle movement letting the natural pacemaker of the heart take over. A drug is injected once normal beat is restored to avoid further fibrillation. A defibrillator may be attached to the heart by implanting it under the skin for patient's who suffer from major heart diseases or those who are known to suffer from recurrent bouts of ventricular fibrillation.
Who Needs ICD ?
If a person is a having ventricular tachycardia will be a prime candidate.
A history of coronary artery disease and prior heart attack that has led to a weak heart.
A heart condition that involves abnormal heart muscle, such as enlarged (dilated cardiomyopathy) or thickened (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) heart muscle.
An inherited heart defect that adversely affects your heart's electrical system. These include long QT syndrome, which can cause ventricular fibrillation and death even in young, active people with no signs or symptoms of heart problems, and other rare conditions such as Brugada syndrome and arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia.
Diagnosis for Defibrillators Implant
Electrocardiogram (ECG): It shows how fast the heart is beating and the heart rhythm. It also records the strength and timing of electrical signals as they pass through each part of the heart.
A Holter monitor, also called an ambulatory EKG, records the electrical signals of your heart for a full 24- or 48-hour period. You wear small patches called electrodes on your chest that are connected by wires to a small, portable recorder. The recorder can be clipped to a belt, kept in a pocket, or hung around your neck. During the 24 or 48 hours, you do your usual daily activities and keep a notebook, writing down any symptoms you have and the time they occur. You then return both the recorder and the notebook to your doctor to read the results.
The purpose of a Holter monitor is to record heart signals during typical daily activities and while sleeping, and to find heart problems that may occur for only a few minutes out of the day. Also, the Holter monitor can pick up irregular heartbeats that don't cause symptoms, but are important to treat.
Echocardiogram: It provides information about size and shape of the heart and well your chambers and valves are working
Electrophysiology study: In this the doctor threads a small flexible tube from a blood vessel in your arm or leg upto your heart. Through the catheter your doctor gives you certain medicines and electrically stimulates your heart to see how your hearts electrical system responds. The electrical stimulation helps to find where the heart's electrical system is damaged.
Procedure of ICD Implant
Surgery to implant an ICD is usually relatively minor. It can be performed with local anesthesia and a sedative.
The procedure typically takes one to three hours. Testing the ICD requires shocking your heart and for that, general anesthesia is used. You stay in the hospital one or two days, and the ICD may be evaluated one more time before you're discharged. Any additional studies are usually performed through the device via radio waves and are nonsurgical.
After surgery you may have some pain in the incision area, which can remain swollen and tender for a few days or weeks. Pain medication often is prescribed, and you can take nonaspirin pain relievers as the severity lessens. Unless your doctor instructs you to, don't take pain medication containing aspirin because it may increase the risk of bleeding.
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Patient Storys
Successful heart surgery at We Care India partner hospital allows Robert Clarke to live a normal life despite a rare genetic disorder We Care india helped Robert find best super specialised surgeon for his rare conditions.
