Destructive device removal - Sparks and deletion of therapy history from an implantable cardioverter defibrillator

A 74-year-old female with a diagnosis of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and ventricular tachycardia died suddenly 9 years after an implantation of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). The destructive removal of an ICD generator and the leads by an uninformed coroner resulted in the loss of the fragile electrograms during the terminal episodes of VT/VF and caused severe charring on the surface of the ICD generator. In order to observe the conditions in which the shock deliveries occurred during the noise detection, we programmed the ICD to deliver the maximum shock energy via a programmer while keeping continuous contact between the device surface and shock lead. The maximum shock energy of 31 Joules produced significant sparks from the surface of the ICD. To avoid the loss of data from an ICD and injury to the patient, widespread notification and education through appropriate scientific societies about the functions of ICDs are highly recommended.