Termination of malignant ventricular arrhythmias with an implanted automatic defibrillator in human beings.
The development of a clinically applicable, automatic, implantable defibrillator has been described previously.1 This electronic device is designed to monitor cardiac electrical activity, to recognize ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachyarrhythmias with a sinusoidal wave form, and then to deliver corrective defibrillatory discharges. It is intended to protect patients at particularly high risk of sudden death whenever and wherever they are stricken by these lethal arrhythmias.