CRT-D/ICD

What is the actual difference between the above.Sometimes docs refer to mine as CRT-D other times ICD.Could anyone enlighten me pls.Tks

2 Comments

D is for defib

by Tracey_E - 2014-08-31 07:08:38

You have a CRT (cardiac resynchronization therapy, aka biventricular pacemaker) with a defibrillator. So, you have both.

CRT-Ds have a left ventricular lead

by pacemaker writer - 2014-09-01 07:09:33

Exactly ... both devices defibrillate (shock). The only difference between an ICD and a CRT-D system is that the CRT-D device will have a lead going to the left ventricle. The ICD will not.

Although a CRT-D device paces left and right ventricles (biventricular pacing) and shocks, a lot of doctors call them ICDs. I don't know why. It's not accurate, but the term CRT-D is not used as often as it ought to be. CRT-D devices are fairly common, but docs and other clinical people are not always precise in their terminology.

Just like on the news, when people mix up "cardiac arrest" (which is ventricular fibrillation) and a "heart attack" (which is a myocardial infarction or a situation where oxygen-rich blood cannot get to the heart muscle).

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You know the difference between hardware and software.

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