[Usefulness of home monitoring in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators].

During the last years several remote monitoring systems have been introduced in everyday clinical practice, because of the development of new computer and information technologies. Therefore, clinical and technical data of implanted devices can be transmitted by patients directly to the cardiology department through a transtelephonic web-based connection, without undergoing traditional outpatient evaluation. Home monitoring systems are effective in identifying device malfunctioning and clinical instability in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators. Their efficacy does not significantly differ from that of traditional outpatient device interrogation, but with significant advantages in terms of quality of life and reduction in clinic visits for device follow-up.