Tag Archives: implantable cardiac defibrillator

Following the article by Drs Inderjeet Bharaj et al.4 asking whether the medical profession is doing enough to give patients appropriate advice about driving after certain cardiac conditions, we are writing to share our own protocol. Hereford County Hospital is a 208-bed district general hospital that implants around 200–250 cardiac devices yearly, including complex cardiac devices, such as implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) and cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) devices. Many implants are in emergency inpatients and our aim was to increase the provision of appropriate driving advice upon discharge. Method and measurements Baselin

Introduction Implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs) have become the cornerstone in preventing sudden cardiac death in susceptible patients or survivors of malignant ventricular arrhythmias (VAs).1-3 Although they terminate VA and improve survival, there is still a risk of recurrent VAs and ICD shocks, which are associated with profound psycho-social stress, worsening heart failure (HF) and increased mortality.2-4 Several strategies are available to address this, with specific advantages and risks. Programming to delayed-detection therapy windows can attenuate ICD therapy risk, but do not completely eliminate shocks.5 Anti-arrhythmic drugs

Introduction The number of patients receiving cardiac rhythm devices (CRDs) in the UK continues to grow.1 After device implantation, to reduce the probability of lead displacement and, therefore, re-intervention, patients are often advised to limit certain arm movements and physical activities for a defined period of time.2 Sources of this post-procedure movement and mobilisation advice include manufacturers’ guidelines, national information leaflets and local implanting centre policy. However, there is no consensus guidance on what the advice should be, and no published evidence to show that post-implant movement restrictions reduce compl