Concept of defibrillation vector in the management of high defibrillation threshold

Abstract

We present a case where defibrillation threshold was dangerously elevated to the point that the patient had no safety margin, and his implantable cardioverter-defibrillator generator was discovered to have migrated. Generator migration reduces the distance between the can and the coil, effectively creating a smaller bipolar current and sparing the left ventricle from the current needed for defibrillation. This case underscores the importance of securing the generator in place, as this patient would have been spared multiple shocks and an invasive medical procedure had his generator been better secured.