Medtronic Lawsuit Attorneys, Williams Kherkher

Types of Defibrillators

Recently, due to the Medtronic recall, defibrillators and their workings have been in the news. While the Medtronic recall covers only implantable defibrillators, many other types exist.

Defibrillation happens to be the definitive treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias such as ventricular tachycardia and pulse-less ventricular tachycardia. By issuing an electric shock to the heart and body, it shocks the heart making it stop for a moment which then allows normal rhythm to be re-established by the body’s natural pacemaker.

Defibrillators can be external, transvenous, or implanted. Some external defibrillators, called Automated External Defibrillators, automate the diagnosis of treatable rhythms as well as the amount of shock to issue. This allows for people with little to no training to use them successfully and to save lives. Other external defibrillators have paddles and are for use when a patient is in surgery and has heart issue. They’re still external defibrillators because the power source and paddles are kept outside of the body.

Transvenous defibrillators involve implanting a small defibrillator into the middle cardiac vein. This method is similar to an implanted defibrillator in that the entire device is internal and automated. The difference is that it shocks across veins, instead of the actual heart.

Implanted defibrillators, such as those sold by Medtronic, are little tiny devices similar to a pacemaker that are inserted into the body. They have been shown to be effective at preventing heart attacks by issuing the same type of shock. The difference is, these little devices do not require the person actually to experience some sort of heart attack in order to receive the shock. The devices are programmed to shock whenever their leads (tiny sensor wires that are sent into the heart) sense a shock is needed, also like a pacemaker. The heart rate needs to reach a certain threshold and then a shock is issued. They’re completely automatic.

If you or someone you know has been fitted with a Medtronic defibrillator featuring SprintFidelis leads and have experienced injury or excessive worry since the recall was announced, there may be legal options available. Contact a Medtronic Lawsuit Attorney at Williams Kherkher at 1-866-950-9000 to discuss your legal options and to schedule a free initial consultation.