ARTERIAL EMBOLISM COMPLICATING IMPLANTABLE CARDIOVERTER-DEFIBRILLATORSHOCKS WITH NORMAL VENTRICULAR-FUNCTION

A 69-year-old man developed an embolus to his right femoral artery 24 h following the insertion of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), with multiple shocks administered in the early postoperative p eriod. He had nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with normal l eft ventricular function and no evidence of left atrial or ventricular thrombus seen on pre- or postoperative transthoracic echocardiography . There was no evidence of atrial fibrillation documented before or af ter implantation of the device. He had no other known risk factors for thromboembolic disease. Thromboembolic phenomena as a complication of ICD use have been described but arterial emboli believed related to I CD shocks have not been reported in patients without impaired systolic function.