New article published: Halin et al., 2023

Another article published! We are proud to have contributed to the publication of yet another article, this time in the journal Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases. Congratulations to the authors!

𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 are effective in reducing mortality by delivering electric shocks, which can interrupt potentially life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. However, these shocks are often a 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 and have a great impact on patients' quality of life. 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 has proven to be an effective way of reducing pathology- and device-related stress.

This article is based on a questionnaire completed by 330 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐂 (Association des POrteurs de Dispositifs Electroniques Cardiaques). The results showed that even though they were informed about the device, 90% of patients 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 after the implantation procedure. Prior to implantation, around 60% of patients felt that they were 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 about defibrillators. Although patients' 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰-𝐮𝐩, they felt that their knowledge could still be improved on several topics. Finally, 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 was used by 92.1% of patients, and was 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

These results show that 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 about implantable cardioverter defibrillator implantation is 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 for many patients, and 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 before the surgical procedure, in order to have a positive impact on patients' quality of life. The article is already available on the journal's website! 𝐃𝐎𝐈: 𝟏𝟎.𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟔/𝐣.𝐚𝐜𝐯𝐝.𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑.𝟏𝟎.𝟎𝟎𝟓.