Treatment with implantable defibrillators in childhood

Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are the treatment of choice in adults with symptomatic ventricular tachycardia or aborted sudden cardiac death. Treatment with implantable defibrillators is also possible in children, although experience in this patient group is scanty. A review of the literature on the subject of defibrillator therapy in combination with epicardial electrodes is provided. Endocardial electrodes, which have now become the gold standard in adult treatment, have only rarely been used in children. However, our own experience shows that endocardial electrodes can be implanted in most children, which generally obviates the need for thoracotomy.