Intermountain Medical Center Media Advisory

WHAT:
The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute made medical history Tuesday as doctors implanted Utah’s first subcutaneous implantable cardiac defibrillator to prevent sudden death from cardiac arrest.

This technological advancement reduces the risk associated with previous devices that involved placing an electrode and lead inside the heart. Since the new technology does not use leads, the risk of life-threatening infections, and breakage, is significantly reduced for thousands of patients who rely on these implantable defibrillators to shock their hearts into normal rhythm.

The patient is doing well and will attend a press conference with his family, along with his cardiologist from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, who will discuss the importance of this Utah medical first.

HD video files and photos of the procedure in the Cath Lab will be made available to the media, and animations of the device are also available.

WHEN/WHERE:
Noon, Thursday, January 23, 2014
Intermountain Medical Center – Media Center (Building 6)
5121 South Cottonwood Street (5300 South State Street)
Murray, Utah​