By John Lundy
Duluth News Tribune
DULUTH, Minn. — A “no-touch” defibrillator has been used to treat a patient for the first time in the Northland.
A defibrillator is an electronic device that gives a shock to the heart with the idea of restoring normal heartbeat after cardiac arrest, or when a dangerously irregular heartbeat occurs.
You’ve probably seen or heard about automated external defibrillators — AEDs — carried on ambulances and found in sports arenas, churches, casinos, airports and other locations. Defibrillators also can be implanted in a patient with a chronic heart condition.
A patient at Essentia Health St. Mary’s-Heart and Vascular Center recently received the first subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator — S-ICD — north of the Twin Cities, according to an Essentia Health news release.
Traditional defibrillators require the doctor to insert wires, or “leads,” into veins, which are then guided into the heart, the news release explained.
The S-ICD leads do not touch the heart. The device works by sending signals to the heart from just over the breastbone.
John Evans, 55, of Duluth was the first patient to receive the S-ICD. He had been using an external defibrillator, an awkward device with a battery pack taped to the chest. His cardiologists at Essentia suggested the S-ICD.
Dr. Julia Montgomery, an electrophysiologist at the Heart and Vascular Center, installed Evans’ S-ICD, according to the news release. Dr. Michael Mollerus also is trained in the procedure.
More information is available from the Heart and Vascular Center at (218) 786-3443.