Background: To reduce myocardial damage caused by implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) shock, the left axilla was studied as an alternative pulse generator implantation site, and compared with the traditional implantation site, the left anterior chest.
Methods and results: Computer simulation was used to study the defibrillation conduction pattern and estimate the simulated defibrillation threshold (DFT) and myocardial damage when pulse generators were placed in the left axilla and left anterior chest, respectively; pulse generators were also newly implanted in the left axilla (n=30) and anterior chest (n=40) to compare the corresponding DFT. On simulation, when ICD generators were implanted in the left axilla, compared with the left anterior chest, the whole heart may be defibrillated with a lower defibrillation energy (left axilla 6.4 J vs. left anterior chest 12.0 J) and thus the proportion of cardiac myocardial damage may be reduced (2.1 vs. 4.2%). Clinically, ventricular fibrillation was successfully terminated with a defibrillation output ≤5 J in 86.7% (26/30) of the left axillary group, and in 27.5% (11/40) of the left anterior group (P<0.001).
Conclusions: Clinically and theoretically, the left axilla was shown to be an improved ICD implantation site that may reduce DFT and lessen myocardial damage due to shock. Lower DFT also facilitates less myocardial damage, as a result of the lower shock required.