Host: If you have to put this automated defibrillators in a child with some conditions?
Andrew D. Blaufox: Yes. Defibrillators are being used more and more often even in the pediatric population, ICD or Internal Cardioverter Defibrillators are life saving devices that can be employed for a variety of reasons.
Host: What would be the most reason to put one in a child?
Andrew D. Blaufox: In a child or in a young adult, typically the most common reason at this time is probably something called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy where patients have thickened heart muscles and are susceptible for having ventricular tachycardia in particular fibrillation and dying suddenly.
Host: Are they born with this or they acquire this?
Andrew D. Blaufox: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy most often is a condition with which the children are born and it's progressive, it gets worse with time. It is a genetic basis so it runs in families. Cardiomyopathy maybe severe in some people in a family and mild in other people in the family. So it maybe difficult to pickup initially in some members but other members maybe severely affected and require a defibrillator to save them from the tension of having a life threatening arrhythmia.
Other conditions that require defibrillators maybe the congenital LQT syndrome, Brugada syndrome and then that we have variety of patients who have undergone complex congenital heart surgery repairs and who develop other ventricular arrhythmias that's necessitate placing a defibrillator.
A defibrillator although it is life saving is associated with some risks and side effects and so the decision to place a defibrillator in any individual has be weighed heavily against the benefits and the risks for that individual. So not all of these patients who have this diagnosis require an ICD.
Host: Usually it's not one person's decision, a group specialist and the family get together and make a decision together is that true?
Andrew D. Blaufox: Typically. We discuss these things together and the family is always involved in making these decisions and depending upon the circumstance sometimes these defibrillators are more an elective thing as opposed to if a child presented with a cardiac arrest then there is very little room for negotiation at that point.
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