Infection after ICD implantation: operating room versus cardiac catheterisation laboratory

The implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) has evolved into an important treatment modality in the primary and secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death. An ICD system comprises a pulse generator and one or more leads for pacing and defibrillation electrodes (ICD with single, dual, or triple chamber pacing).1 The first-generation devices required an abdominal pocket for the pulse generator and insertion of an epicardial lead system by means of thoracotomy.1 The epicardial lead system was later replaced by a transvenous non-thoracotomy lead system in the subclavian or cephalic veins while preserving abdominal pulse generators. Technological advances have made a gradual reduction in the size of the pulse generator possible, thereby permitting superficial implantation of the pulse generator in the anterior chest wall.1 This technique resembles pacemaker (PM) implantation. …