Q: An AP article and an AJC article talked about an implantable cardioverter defibrillator. The description of that device sounded exactly like a pacemaker. Are they the same and, if not, what are the differences?
—Mel Krupnick, Douglasville
A: An implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) and a pacemaker are similar, but an ICD is larger and "is designed to deliver two levels of electrical energy," Johns Hopkins Medicine states on its website.
An ICD delivers a “low energy shock that can convert a beating heart that is in an abnormal rhythm back to a normal heartbeat.”
It also can deliver a high energy shock “if the arrhythmia is so severe that the heart is only quivering instead of beating.”
A pacemaker sends “electrical signals to start or regulate a slow heartbeat,” hopkinsmedicine.org states, and is “often used to treat less dangerous heart rhythms, such as those that occur in the upper chambers of your heart,” the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute wrote on its website.
“Most new ICDs can act as both pacemakers and defibrillators,” nhlbi.nih.gov states.
Q: What happened to Amy Napier Viteri on Channel 2 Action News “Nightbeat?” She hasn’t been on in a while.
—James Prible, Fayetteville
A: Viteri left WSB-TV in September to work for WPLG Local 10, an ABC affiliate in Miami. She had worked at WSB since March 2011.
Her Twitter account is @TVAmyViteri.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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