The Device That Kicks Your Heart Into Gear
Less than nine months after suffering a heart attack and literally dying on the field, Danish soccer star Christian Eriksen, 30, returned to the pitch over the weekend.
What made this possible? Obviously, a lot of hard work – and the help of a medical device known as an implanted cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD).
🫀 How it works... The ICD constantly monitors the patient's pulse, and, if it detects an irregular or abnormal heartbeat, the device is programmed to respond accordingly.
- For a slower-than-normal heartbeat, there's a “back-up pacemaker” that brings the heartbeat back up to normal.
- For a mild, faster-than-normal heartbeat, the ICD sends out several pacing signals that usually cause the heart to return to a normal rhythm. If that doesn’t work, it delivers a mild electric shock to the heart to slow it down.
- And if that doesn’t work, the device sends an even stronger shock intended to stop the fast heartbeat. This – in theory – should prompt the patient to visit an emergency room.
🤔 Is it safe to compete with an ICD?... Up until 2015, scientists thought the answer to that question was “no”. But then a research team from Yale University published a peer-reviewed study following 440 athletes competing with ICDs over four years.
The study found that ~10% of the athletes received a shock from the device while competing. But there were no examples of the ICD failing, and none of the athletes suffered an injury or died from a sports-related cardiac event, leading the study’s author to conclude “the risk is low.”
- Still, the rules governing ICDs in athletes vary by country. Eriksen had to leave his previous club, Inter Milan, because Italian rules prevent anyone from playing with the device.
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