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Inappropriate Shocks Delivered by an ICD as a Result of Sensed Potentials from a Transcutaneous Electronic Nerve Stimulation Unit
Author(s) -
PHILBIN DANIEL M.,
MARIEB MARK A.,
AITHAL KESHAVA H.,
SCHOENFELD MARK H.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
pacing and clinical electrophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.686
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1540-8159
pISSN - 0147-8389
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-8159.1998.tb00027.x
Subject(s) - medicine , transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation , artifact (error) , adverse effect , cardiology , anesthesia , neuroscience , alternative medicine , pathology , biology
Although the potential for transcutaneous electronic nerve stimulation (TENS) units to interfere with appropriate function of cardiac pacemakers is well documented, an adverse interaction between a TENS unit and an ICD has never been reported. We describe a patient in whom a TENS unit created an electrical artifact that was interpreted by a transvenous ICD as ventricular fibrillation, leading to the delivery of inappropriate therapy. TENS units should be used with caution in patients with ICDs.