A condensed review of the essentials related to ICD therapy, this text aims to help both new surgeons and new ICD centres acquire knowledge in an easily accessible form.

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator therapy has now become a standard antiarrhythmic treatment, with the consequence that ICD technology is advancing apace. The ICD comes in increasingly smaller sizes, performs a greater range of pacing and defibrillation therapies, is supported by a range of diagnostics and telemetry, and very significantly, the ICD is now generally recognised as a more effective therapy for cardiac arrest patients than antiarrhythmic drugs such as amiodarone. The aim of the Clinical Approaches to Tachyarryhthmias series is to update the physician, cardiologist, and all those responsible for the the care of patients with cardiac arrhythmias. In this volume, Martin Fromer reviews the current status of the implantable defibrillator, recent technical developments, and indications for its use.

Foreword - A.J. Camm
Preface - A.J. Camm
Introduction
Sudden Cardiac Death
Michel Mirowski
Indications and Guidelines for ICD Therapy
ICD Therapies
Some Considerations Related to the Debrillation Threshold
Work-Up Before ICD Implantation
ICD Implantation
Perioperative and Postoperative Management of the ICD Patient
End Points in ICD Studies
Follow-up of Devices and Patients
Interaction of Pacemaker and ICD
ICD Trials: An Empiracally Effective Therapy Has Found Scientific Grounds
Driving in ICD Patients
Future Outlook References Index