What is an automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator?
The implantable defibrillator (AICD) is an electronic device like a large pacemaker that is implanted surgically in a pocket formed in the chest wall. It consists of a pulse generator that can deliver a powerful shock to the heart; electrodes to sense the rhythm of the heart and to deliver the shock to the heart muscle; and a computer and circuitry that tells the AICD when to discharge the shock. The first implantable defibrillators required open-chest surgery to implant the electrodes. Fortunately, the present units do not require open chest surgery for implantation. The electrodes can be inserted through a large vein that runs beneath the collar bone and directed into the heart under x-ray guidance (fluoroscopy). The pusle generator is then buried under the skin of the chest wall, the electrodes are inserted into the heart through the veins, and the pulse generator is surgically buried under the skin of the abdomen or chest.
