title: Automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillators.
abstract: Ventricular fibrillation, a loss of synchronous electrical activity in the heart which leads to hemodynamic collapse, is a leading cause of death. Because of the devastating personal and societal effects of this phenomenon, the automatic cardioverter-defibrillator has been developed for automatic detection and termination of the arrhythmia and is in widespread clinical use. Advances in circuits, leads, waveforms, and signal processing along with increased knowledge of the mechanisms of fibrillation have led to continuing improvements in this device, extending its use to many patients. A device has also been developed for the automatic or semiautomatic treatment of atrial fibrillation, an arrhythmia less life-threatening than ventricular fibrillation, but still a serious health problem. Continued improvement of these devices and the development of qualitatively new approaches hold great promise for exciting therapeutic advances in this area.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, and Physiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294-0019, USA. wms@crml.uab.edu
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Ideker
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000628:therapy; D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000517:prevention & control; D017147:Defibrillators, Implantable / Q000266:history; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D014693:Ventricular Fibrillation / Q000628:therapy