Pulmonary, Cardiovascular and Mechanical Complications of Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs)

Automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) have been used widely for the prevention of recurrent sudden cardiac death and the treatment of life-threatening ventricular tachyarrhythmias in ambulatory patients, since 1980 (Mirowski M et al., 1982). The remarkable efficacy of the ICD has been demonstrated to be 95% at 3 years and this has led to its ever-increasing use (Linl G et al., 2009). Despite this benefit, there are many potential complications associated with ICDs (Pfeiffer D et al., 1994; Linl G et al., 2009). Nevertheless, the rate of complications related to the ICDs has fallen markedly with the evolution from a large device that required an abdominal pocket and insertion of an epicardial lead system via thoracotomy to the current use of much smaller transvenous pectoral devices (Krohn J et al., 2001; DiMarco JP et al., 2003). The incidence of ICD complications is difficult to determine due to inconsistent definitions and the lack of mandatory reporting. Nevertheless, women are more likely than men to have inhospital adverse events related to ICD implantation (Peterson PN et al., 2009).