Permanent pacemakers and implantable defibrillators: considerations for intensivists.
Pacemakers and cardioverter-defibrillators are implanted in patients with cardiovascular disease for an ever-increasing array of indications. Intensivists provide care frequently for patients who have these devices, and thus, they must be familiar with common problems and nuances that may contribute to critical illness. Close collaboration of the critical care physician and cardiologist/electrophysiologist assures that pacemakers and defibrillators are tuned to optimize the hemodynamic milieu of critically ill patients. Many recent advances in the sophistication of implanted devices are reviewed herein.
Department of Internal Medicine, Bridgeport Hospital and Yale University School of Medicine, Bridgeport, Connecticut 06610, USA.
Craig A
CA
McPherson
Constantine
C
Manthous
D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods; D017147:Defibrillators, Implantable; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004867:Equipment Design; D004868:Equipment Failure; D004869:Equipment Safety; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome