New embedded device to prevent 'sudden death'
India's first defibrillator that prevents sudden cardiac death without plugging into the heart has been implanted on a 48-yearold man at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute. It lowers chances of infection and injury to the heart and veins, but costs three times as much as the existing defibrillator. Called the implantable subcutaneous cardioverter-defibrillator (S-ICD), the device is an electrically active pulse generator connected to a lead that is positioned in the subcutaneous tissue of the chest over the heart. Traditional defibrillators and pacing devices have leads connected to the heart and veins.
Source: http://www.htsyndication.com/htsportal/article/New-embedded-device-to-prevent--sudden-death-/6512706
Key benefits of the Device:
Only 1 person in 20 usually survives an episode of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). Implantable defibrillators called ICD have been shown to effectively terminate the majority of dangerously fast heart rhythms, which can lead to sudden cardiac arrest.
Patients with a high risk of sudden cardiac death could benefit immensely from a new less invasive revolutionary implantable defibrillator.
Typically, patients are permanently wired up to a defibrillator (ICD)which is connected to the heart via a vein. If it senses that the heart is malfunctioning, it sends out a jolt of electricity that sets things right again.
These ICDs were introduced almost 19 yrs back and many people are still afraid of leads inside their heart.
Physicians around the world have found new subcutaneous implantable cardiac defibrillator, or S-ICD, innovative for avoiding the need for wiring within the blood vessels and heart.
Image source: Hindustam Times Press Article, Page 5 Article
The unique thing about the S-ICD is that entire system is outside rib cage, under the skin. It takes away the need for placing the wires inside veins thatconnect to the heart. This reduces the chances of lead infection spreading to blood stream causing sepsis.
Patients sometimes express a fear of leads inside heart. And some patients don’t have conventional venous access available. This is revolutionary technology for those situations.
Not having to install a piece of hardware into the blood vessels and heart is a benefit for child patients, who often face calcification around the wires of the older systems because of the length of time they are installed.
In younger people, if you put a wire in your heart, it becomes a part of the body. So to take it out, should there be an infection or a problem with the wires, you have to use a laser to pull it out, and that can be a problem.
Patients with shunts or inaccessible blood vessels also will benefit from the S-ICD, as it doesn’t need to travel through them to provide the shock to the heart.
The surgery to implant the device also is simplified. Done under local anesthesia, the 45-minute procedure requires only a small incision between the skin and muscle of the chest in which the device is embedded. The next morning, the patient is able to return home.
Subcutaneous ICD is available in USA and parts of Europe, and is now introduced in India and first procedure using this technology was conducted recently at Escorts Fortis, New Delhi. This was the first such procedure carried out not only in India but in this region.
People who have a family history of cardiac diseases or who have suffered from a heart attack are at a higher risk of Sudden Cardiac death.
Image source: Hindustam Times Press Article, Page 5 Article
This article is published while curating the information about new technology in pacemakers and ICDs which prevent sudden death due to cardiac arrest.