Medical Health Encyclopedia

Cardioversion

Less often, internal cardioversion is needed to treat atrial (upper heart chamber)arrhythmias. In this case, the device is called an "atrial defibrillator".

Implantable defibrillators consist of a pulse generator that is implanted under the skin (just like a pacemaker) and electrodes (wires) that are placed into the heart. If the heart goes into an abnormal rhythm, the defibrillator will sense it and send an electrical shock to the heart, to make it start beating normally again.

The generator battery lasts for several years.

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COMPLICATIONS

Possible complications, which are relatively uncommon for internal defibrillators, include:

• Bleeding
• Clot in a vein
• Perforation (tearing) of the heart
• Infection
• Lead dislodgement (wires not remaining where they were placed)
• Shocks delivered by the device in error

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