Revolutionary innovation to prevent sudden cardiac arrest

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a condition in which the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. Unlike other heart conditions, SCA can impact people of all ages, races and ethnicities, and often with no warning – in fact, 1,000 people each day experience SCA, nearly 90% of them are fatal.

Patients who experience dangerously fast heart rhythms or are at risk of SCA typically receive an implanted defibrillator, which is placed below the collarbone, with thin wires called leads threaded through the veins and into the heart. These devices, which have been saving lives for nearly 40 years, send a high-energy shock or low-energy pacing pulses to terminate a potentially deadly heart rhythm.

Patients now have a safe and effective treatment option with the newly FDA approved Medtronic Aurora EV-ICD™ (Extravascular Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator) system.

This first-of-its-kind implanted defibrillator provides the benefits of traditional, transvenous ICDs in a single device and implant procedure, but takes the wire out of the veins and hearts and instead places it under the sternum or breastbone, helping avoid long-term complications.

SCA survivor Cheryl Jordan Winston and Dr. Alan Cheng spoke to David about Cheryl's story, the importance of heart health and ICDs as a treatment for dangerously fast heart rhythms.

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