Clinical conferences at The Johns Hopkins Hospital: ventricular tachycardia and the internal defibrillator
Reid, P.R.; Marban, E.; Feinstein, R.S.
Johns Hopkins Medical Journal 151(1): 24-29
1982
ISSN/ISBN: 0021-7263 PMID: 6979653 Document Number: 187890
The automatic internal defibrillator (ID) offers a new dimension in the management of patients at risk for sudden cardiac death. The patient is provided with a continuous monitoring of cardiac rhythm and a rapid means of effectively correcting potentially lethal ventricular tachyarrhythmias. Specific problems were identified and improvements were provided for individual patients. Future developments will make the ID available to a great number of patients. The role of the ID should be considered complementary to other surgical and medical management programs, since the device will remain inactive unless other therapies are unsuccessful. While the initial experience is limited and the follow-up period is relatively short, it appears that the ID has successfully performed automatic defibrillation on patients outside the hospital, the function for which it was designed.