An ICD is generally needed for those at high risk of cardiac arrest due to a ventricular arrhythmia. This includes people with heart failure who have problems with the contraction of the heart, such as abnormal left ventricular ejection fraction. There may be other reasons for your doctor to recommend an ICD.

Why would a doctor implant an ICD in a patient?

It helps when your heart stops beating effectively (cardiac arrest), even when you're not near a hospital. Your doctor may recommend an ICD if you've had signs or symptoms of certain abnormal heartbeats called sustained ventricular tachycardia, including fainting.

Why would a person need a defibrillator?

You need an ICD if you have ventricular fibrillation (VF). That's when the heart's lower chambers don't contract hard enough to pump blood throughout the body, triggering cardiac arrest. You also need one if you've already suffered cardiac arrest, from VF or another cause.

How long can you live with an ICD implant?

Living with a Pacemaker or Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator ICD. Pacemakers and ICDs generally last 5 to 7 years or longer, depending on usage and the type of device. In most cases, you can lead a normal life with an ICD.

How serious is a defibrillator surgery?

As with all surgeries, a defibrillator implant involves risks and possible complications. Complications may become serious and life threatening in some cases. Complications can develop during surgery or recovery.

Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD)

24 related questions found

How painful is a defibrillator?

Do these shocks hurt? Answer: A defibrillator shock, if you're wide awake, will indeed hurt. The description is that it's like being kicked by a mule in the chest. It's a sudden jolt.

What does an ICD shock feel like?

Some of the newer, smaller devices have simpler lead systems, which can be inserted with a catheterization procedure. Once the ICD is implanted, the leads monitor your heart rate. If the ICD detects ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation, it sends out a controlled burst of impulses (called “overdrive” pacing).

Can you drive a car with a defibrillator?

Is it okay to drive if you have an ICD? If you get an ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator), you will not drive for a short time after you get the device implanted. Depending on the reason you got the ICD, you may not be able to drive for a few months. Your doctor will let you know when you can drive again.

Which is more serious pacemaker or defibrillator?

What a pacemaker does is keep the heart beating at the proper rate and from beating too slow. It also will only activate if it is needed, it is not shocking people all the time. An implanted defibrillator is a bigger device. It is there to prevent death from a cardiac arrest.

Can you drive with a defibrillator fitted?

If you had an ICD put in because you went into cardiac arrest, you won't be able to drive for six months. But if you had it fitted just as a precaution, the driving ban is one month. You can then drive again if your ICD hasn't delivered any shocks. Do always carry your device ID card.

Does an ICD help heart failure?

ICDs are recommended in all patients with heart failure and reduced heart function, since reduced heart function increases risk for irregular heartbeats and sudden cardiac arrest. However, they've been found to be most effective in patients with heart failure that's caused by heart disease.

Is a defibrillator the same as a pacemaker?

The pacemaker is the steady hand guiding your heart through each day, while the defibrillator is the guardian angel standing ready to keep you safe if your heartbeat becomes dangerously irregular.

What conditions are indications for placement of an ICD?

You may need an ICD if you have survived sudden cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation, or have fainted due to ventricular arrhythmia, or if you have certain inherited heart conditions. An ICD is generally needed for those at high risk of cardiac arrest due to a ventricular arrhythmia.

Who should not get an ICD?

Sometimes an ICD is not recommended. You and your doctor may decide against an ICD if any of the following apply to you: You're expected to live less than 1 year. You have frequent abnormal heart rhythms (ventricular tachycardia) that can't be controlled with medicines.

Is an ICD a pacemaker?

An implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is a device similar to a pacemaker. It sends a larger electrical shock to the heart that essentially "reboots" it to get it pumping again.

Can ICD shock someone else?

But let's debunk the myth that an internal defibrillator could harm anyone else. ICD shocks are delivered internally and any person in contact with a patient getting shocked would merely feel muscle contractions, even if they were in water.

Can a defibrillator restart a heart?

To put it simply, an AED will not restart a heart once it has completely stopped because that's not what it's designed to do. As discussed above, the purpose of a defib is to detect irregular heart rhythms and shock them back to normal rhythms, not to shock a heart back to life once it has flatlined.

Can you have an MRI with a defibrillator?

Patients with implanted cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators can undergo an MRI but will need special considerations based on the type of device the patient has and the MRI equipment.

What are the side effects of a defibrillator?

What are the side effects of a defibrillator?

• Arteriovenous fistula (an abnormal connection between the artery and the vein)
• Blood clots in the arteries or veins.
• Injury to the lung, a collapsed lung, or bleeding in the lung cavities.
• Developing a hole in the blood vessels.
• Infection of the system.
• Bleeding from the pocket.

Does having a defibrillator qualify for disability?

Having a pacemaker or implanted cardiac defibrillator (ICD) doesn't automatically qualify you for Social Security disability, especially if the device is controlling your symptoms well.

What can I expect after an ICD implant?

You may feel a hard ridge along the incision. This usually gets softer in the months after surgery. You probably will be able to see and feel the outline of the ICD under your skin. You will probably be able to go back to work or your usual routine 1 to 2 weeks after surgery.

How long is recovery from defibrillator?

Full recovery from the procedure normally takes about 4 to 6 weeks. Your doctor will provide you with a complete set of instructions to follow once your procedure is completed. Always consult your doctor for specific information or to ask any additional questions you might have.

What makes a defibrillator go off?

The majority of the time the defibrillators went off for the right reasons (ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation). But 41 percent of the shocks were because a device was fooled by a non-life-threatening arrhythmia, or because of a device malfunction.

Can you have a mammogram with an ICD?

NOTE: Mammograms will not interfere with your ICD or S-ICD. However, your device could be damaged if it gets compressed in the mammogram machine. Make sure the doctor or technician knows you have an implanted device.

Does a defibrillator damage the heart?

Sufficiently strong defibrillation shocks will cause temporary or permanent damage to the heart. Weak defibrillation shocks do not cause any damage to the heart but also do not defibrillate.