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Implantable cardiac defibrillator

An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) is a device that detects a life-threatening, rapid heartbeat, called an arrhythmia. If such a heartbeat occurs, the ICD quickly sends an electrical shock to the heart to change the rhythm back to normal.

Implantable cardiac defibrillator
An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) is a device that detects any life-threatening, rapid heartbeat. If such a heartbeat, called an arrhythmia, occurs, the ICD quickly sends an electrical shock to the heart to change the rhythm back to normal.
Last reviewed August 23, 2022 by Thomas S. Metkus, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team..