Why implanted defibrillators are far flowing solving cardiac arrest cases
Implanting a defibrillator helps to research the heart in case one experiences a sudden cardiac arrest. It is a successful way to intervene when the deadly disease strikes. But surprisingly, a new research has shown that despite only few people being screened to determine their eligibility for this defibrillator, only a very small percentage of those found eligible actually receive this life saving device. In the US, between 300000 and 350000 cases of cardiac arrest are reported. Unfortunately, by the time this happens, it is usually too late and not many patients are able to survive.

What is a defibrillator?

A defibrillator is actually a device that is surgically inserted to rest just by the heart to ensure that it beats continuously. This is the major prevention method available for cardiac arrest and it is capable of shocking the patient when cardiac arrest strikes and this often helps save their lives. In a recent study, a team of researchers in Los Angeles from the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center analyzed 2093 cases involving persons who died after suffering from sudden cardiac arrest for a period of between 2003 and 2012. Only 448 of these cases were screened to ascertain their eligibility for receiving the device and only 92 of those 448 were eligible. Only 12 of those eligible received an implantable defibrillator.
Chugh, the lead researcher said that these numbers were ideally very small and made them think that they were not doing enough to contain the situation. One of the reasons why only few people had been screened for eligibility to this defibrillator have never experienced symptoms of cardiac arrest and will simply die on their first attach. A significantly large portion of those who die from cardiac arrest comprises of patients who even after all the screening has been done. They couldn’t meet the criteria of getting a defibrillator. While it is true that the figure of those who were screened is quite low, it is not possible to achieve a 100 percent because heart malfunction is in most cases sudden and there are no warning signs.

Other reasons why few people are screened for implanted defibrillators

The other reason explaining this low figure is that screening mainly looks for persons whose rate of pumping blood is quite low. But the research conducted showed that about 2/3 of patients never had low pumping level. It was recommended that the guidelines for screening need to be reevaluated so that people having other symptoms besides low pumping rate can be included. It was very clear that even those who qualify for the device rarely follow up or end up deciding to take chances and not have the defibrillator implanted. Individuals with other medical problems like progressive dementia or terminal cancer don’t get defibrillator implantation as it wouldn’t make sense after all.